Abstract
The aftermath of the global pandemic in 2020 brought many public and private organizational leaders to the whiteboard, and with a dry eraser in their hands, human leaders were expected to produce solutions, but only a few managed to write the new blueprint to protect millions of employees, customers, and students from the life-threatening COVID-19 virus. Subsequently, artificial intelligence was adopted as part of the solution to the unprecedented organizational disruptions. Nonetheless, leaders appeared to have overlooked the impact of artificial intelligence as part of an organization's diversity. This chapter provides an expansive review about artificial intelligence and diversity in the context of cultural identity, economic power, social demographics, and ethnographic communication currently not included in organizational diversity and inclusion programs.
TopBackground
Private organizations relied on government to produce safety solutions and workplace guidelines for managing their business and employees amidst the global pandemic of 2020 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021). While most of the solutions issued by government were adopted by private businesses, there were other companies actively working to provide artificial intelligence solutions to address the human factor and the source of threat (International Federation of Robotics, 2021).
For example, Hanson Robotics, an artificial intelligence developer company located in Hong Kong, received thousands of orders to mass produce and launch one of its most sophisticated humanoids, named Sophia, to work in customer service jobs (Science and Technology, 2021). The image below illustrates Sophia, the social humanoid, built and activated, April 19, 2015, in Hong Kong by her creators, Hanson Robotics.
Figure 1.Source: Sophia, a humanoid robot. Microsoft Bing.Com/Images. Humanoids will continue to join organizations, not to replace human employees and take their jobs, but to protect and assist them with tasks no longer suitable for humans when faced with life threatening infectious diseases (International Federation of Robotics, 2021). COVID-19 triggered businesses to shutdown overnight, causing billions of financial losses worldwide. Only essential workers were called to duty in person and had to work long hours to meet the physiological needs of humans (NCSL, 2021). Many of these essential workers worked at grocery stores and hospitals.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Human Employees: Human beings with intellect, emotions, and behaviors as well as specialized yet limited capabilities.
Technocrats: Pluralist groups with ideals about controlling the creativity of artificial intelligence innovators.
Diverse Talent: Human employees within four dimensions comprising of cultural identity, economic power, social demographics, and ethnographic communication.
Affective Support: Intentional and empathetic dialogue to dispel uncertainty and to help establish a sense of employment safety.
Essential Workers: Human employees assigned to businesses to satisfy human physiological needs.
Humanoids: Human like machines designed to assist or protect human employees.
Lifework Balance: Activities comprising of personal rewards as well as a sense of self-actualization.