The latest Candidate Sentiment Survey from Robert Half suggests that while Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here to stay, fewer-than-expected workers in the UK prefer to interact with AI over people when looking for a job. A limited number also believe that their role will change as a result of Artificial Intelligence this year.
The report found that overall 70 per cent of UK workers prefer the human touch to AI when looking for a job with more than a third (36 per cent) of the UK population choosing to deal only with humans rather than AI. A further 34 per cent stated that they are happy for AI to be part of the process, but still feel that people need to be a fundamental part of their experience.
Given their digital exposure it’s perhaps unsurprising to note that fewer 18-34 year olds wanted to deal only with humans (25 per cent versus 40 per cent of those aged 35-54 and 49 per cent of the over 55’s). However, almost half of the younger demographic (43 per cent) want person-to-person interaction to remain a critical component of recruitment.
A further 35 per cent of UK workers stated that AI hasn’t yet impacted their role and don’t believe it will this year. Just 9 per cent of employees believe that this technology will reshape their role by reducing administration, while only 3 per cent stated that AI is going to completely change how they work in 2024.
“AI holds the potential to greatly enable process optimisation and automation, yet in many areas the human subjective reasoning is and will remain fundamental,” said Kris Harris, Regional Director, UK Technology Solutions, at Robert Half, “And it is not surprising that an overwhelming proportion of the UK workforce still views the experience of looking for a job as deeply human.
“Finding purpose and fulfilment with meaningful work, whilst feeling connected and empowered is one way to describe the new world of work. Individuals no longer simply perceive their workplace as a means of earning a living, but as an environment of shared values, beliefs and purpose. This makes job-seeking and career-building a subjective and personal experience, which cannot solely rely on AI.”
“Although emerging generations are certainly more adept at utilising technological developments, they still have a desire to connect with – and learn from – people, and that’s unlikely to ever disappear,” Harris concludes.
