AI Hiring Experiment Backfires: Lattice's Digital Workers Spark Controversy

How US-based HR company's plan to hire AI bots backfired - Times of India

A US-based human resources technology company, Lattice, faced significant backlash after announcing plans to treat AI bots as employees, forcing the company to quickly backtrack on its initiative. On July 9, 2024, Lattice CEO Sarah Franklin unveiled a groundbreaking feature that would allow organisations to create employee records for AI workers. The company claimed it would be the first to give "digital workers" official employee status, complete with onboarding, training, goals, and even assigned managers. However, the announcement was met with immediate criticism from HR professionals and tech industry leaders. Many questioned the necessity and implications of treating AI as human employees. Amanda Halle, an HR professional, noted on LinkedIn that the initiative seemed to "skip several steps" in AI integration. The controversy highlighted growing concerns about the role of AI in the workplace and the potential implications of anthropomorphizing AI tools. Critics argued that treating AI as employees could blur important distinctions between human workers and machine learning algorithms. Faced with mounting pressure, Lattice issued an update on July 12, stating that it would "not further pursue digital workers in the product." The rapid reversal underscored the sensitivity surrounding AI integration in workplace management systems. The TOI Tech Desk is a dedicated team of journalists committed to delivering the latest and most relevant news from the world of technology to readers of The Times of India. TOI Tech Desk's news coverage spans a wide spectrum across gadget launches, gadget reviews, trends, in-depth analysis, exclusive reports and breaking stories that impact technology and the digital universe. Be it how-tos or the latest happenings in AI, cybersecurity, personal gadgets, platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and more; TOI Tech Desk brings the news with accuracy and authenticity.

This HR company tried to treat AI bots like people -- it didn't go over well

"Today Lattice is making AI history," CEO Sarah Franklin wrote in a July 9th blog post. "We will be the first to give digital workers official employee records in Lattice. Digital workers will be securely onboarded, trained, and assigned goals, performance metrics, appropriate systems access, and even a manager. Just as any person would be." On July 12th, after a very predictable backlash, Lattice posted an update saying it "will not further pursue digital workers in the product." Here's a sample of the responses to Lattice's original announcement: Franklin's original post did acknowledge that there are questions about what it means to integrate an AI worker into processes for managing real people. And Franklin has posted comments on LinkedIn to explain Lattice's thinking about the feature. "I'm not advocating for the personification of AI," Franklin said in one. There are many companies exploring the idea of digital workers -- Franklin's blog post pointed to Cognition AI's Devin software engineer and Qualified's Piper AI sales representative. It appears Lattice was trying to respond to these sorts of AI bots, but its attempt backfired, especially among the people who might care about it the most.

Company Abandons Plans to Give AI Workers "Rights" and Add Them to Org Chart After Outcry From Human Employees

As experts continue to predict that AI will lead to the abolishing of millions of jobs, one company is taking the matter to its logical conclusion by giving its "digital workers" -- AI algorithms that were essentially assigned a job -- "rights," as Fortune reports. In a press release last week, HR software company Lattice proudly claimed that it was "making history" by fully integrating these AI models into its product and adding them to org charts. "AI workers will have managers and will be held accountable to specific goals and standards using Lattice's platform," the press release reads, "so employers can measure and assess their performance like with any other employee." Unsurprisingly, the baffling concept of extending rights to "digital employees" that don't actually exist didn't sit well with many, leading to major backlash and eventually forcing Lattice to reconsider. The retaliation highlights a growing disillusionment with AI, which has quickly taken over entire industries by storm. In many ways, Lattice said the quiet part out loud and got called out for it. Onboarding AI models to have the same standing as human employees in an organization appears to have crossed a line, with people squirming at the possibility of a future where work environments are largely shaped by algorithms, not humans. Critics of the move pointed out that Lattice's announcement was tone-deaf, degrading to human staff, and set a bad precedent. "This strategy and messaging misses the mark in a big way, and I say that as someone building an AI company," AI sales platform Aomni chief of staff Sawyer Middeleer wrote in a LinkedIn comment responding to an announcement post by Lattice CEO Sarah Franklin. "Treating AI agents as employees disrespects the humanity of your real employees. Worse, it implies that you view humans simply as 'resources' to be optimized and measured against machines." "Workers are already struggling enough and now they have to compete with 'AI workers,'" another user wrote. "Can we put it back into its box and send it back?" For quite some time now, companies have cited AI as a reason for mass layoffs. Just last week, TurboTax maker Intuit laid off 1,800 workers in an apparent effort to cash in on the AI hype. Last month, Microsoft blamed an "AI wave" after laying off 1,500 workers. And organizations are becoming less and less shy about intentionally replacing human roles with AI. For instance, Ferris State University in Michigan recently announced plans to enroll two AI-powered "students," who are invited to "attend" classes and interact with other human students. Following the backlash, Lattice quickly backpedaled on the idea. "This innovation sparked a lot of conversation and questions that have no clear answers yet," Franklin told Fortune in a statement. "We look forward to continuing to work with our customers on the responsible use of AI but will not further pursue digital workers in the product." Could Lattice's shortsighted announcement be a sign of things still to come? There's still a chance other companies may follow suit in an effort to humanize their "digital workers" and rationalize their cost-cutting measures. But given the swift backlash, it's unlikely to be a popular move that'll be embraced by workers, who are already wary of the possibility of having their workload be passed onto an AI.