Our topic for this month deals with an issue very much on the minds of businesses currently: artificial intelligence. The topic is “The Danger of Making People Into Robots with AI.” With minutely detailed instruction evolved by AI and religiously followed by employees, they are no longer required to think for themselves.
Now let’s take a look at the effect this scenario will have on managers.
From the Staff Level
As we’ve covered in another article in this newsletter, artificial intelligence, the way that it is currently being used and strategized in business, is removing the necessity—and, in the long term, the capacity—for employees to think for themselves.
In sales, artificial intelligence is being utilized to create scripts for salespeople, especially those who are not top producers. The attempt is being made to, through AI, import methods of top salespeople to those who aren’t as capable, the idea being that they will be made as productive.
The problem with this approach is the same as it always has been with scripting in sales before the advent of artificial intelligence. A sales rep reading from a script, whether AI-generated or not, is not truly communicating with a prospect or customer. The prospect or customer senses this and is turned off by it, and sales through scripting, or now AI-enabled scripting, usually result in failed sales.
Tech support and customer service are other areas in which AI is being used in a similar fashion. When a customer calls in with a problem, the customer service or tech support rep can reference the problem on their computer, and be provided a script or guideline for the address of the customer’s issue or issues. Companies feel that they don’t need to train reps as deeply as they once did if they’re able to arm the reps with these AI-provided guidelines.
As with salespeople, customer service reps, not having to really understand a customer’s problem, is not in actual communication with the customer. This often results in an upset customer—especially when the guideline or script being read off by the rep doesn’t truly address the customer’s issues.
If employees only have to consult guidelines or scripts, they no longer have to really learn their jobs, and no longer have to think for themselves.
Incapable staff leads to lack of production, which leads to elevated levels of staff turnover. This, of course, leads to an incredibly unstable company.
At the Management Level
If employees are being minutely spoon-fed their jobs by artificial intelligence, and their problems are being “solved” by AI, what is left for a manager to do?
A manager’s position traditionally is one of organizing and directing work. Staff training is usually part of a manager’s role—even when the person hired knows the basic job functions, guidance must be provided so they understand how the role fits within their own company and department. When an employee has a problem, the manager helps solve it. The manager also has a hand in motivating employees to do good work.
Since literally all of these functions, and many more falling under the heading of real management, are being “solved” by AI, a manager’s role is then reduced to logistics, such as making sure employees are arriving to work on time and fulfilling their whole shift. When someone doesn’t arrive, the manager must make sure their duties are otherwise covered. When an employee fails, they are replaced, and the manager must see to the hiring of the new person.
What effect will this drastic lowering of responsibility have on managers? When they no longer have to really be managers but simply “people shufflers,” how capable will they be as managers?
They too end up relying on AI to solve the problems reps under them may have. They are no longer required to guide the reps to becoming more successful at their jobs, this now being the job of AI. Thus they no longer need to know how to guide or make the employees under them better at their jobs. No longer needing to guide, managers then don’t get trained or seek training for a skill seemingly replaced by AI.
This is yet another angle through which we can see that artificial intelligence, at least in its current state, has no place in business.
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