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AI In the Workplace - The pros and cons of automation for people leaders

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Emily Rust

AI as a Tool: Reducing the Heavy Lifting to Free Up Human Capacity

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way we work, offering tools that automate the monotonous, reduce inefficiencies, and free up human potential for strategic thinking, leadership, and learning. But it also comes with challenges, requiring leaders to carefully balance AI’s benefits with its risks.

Rather than replacing people, AI is best leveraged as a productivity amplifier - handling repetitive, time-consuming tasks so that leaders and teams can focus on creativity, problem-solving, and high-value work. Here’s how people leaders can embrace AI as an opportunity while mitigating the risks.

The Pros of AI in the Workplace

Automating meeting documentation & summaries

AI tools can generate real-time meeting transcriptions, highlight key takeaways, and automatically create follow-up action items.

  • Leadership Opportunity: Instead of spending time manually summarising meetings, leaders can focus on decision-making and execution.

  • Recommended Tools: Otter.ai (real-time transcription & summaries), Fireflies.ai (meeting note automation), Microsoft Copilot (AI-powered note-taking for Teams), Contented.ai (meeting summaries and musings turned summaries, content and more).

Editing, refining, & co-creating reports

AI-powered writing assistants can help draft, refine, and summarise reports, ensuring clarity and consistency while reducing time spent on revisions.

  • Leadership Opportunity: Managers can focus on insights and decision-making rather than getting bogged down in wording and formatting.

  • Recommended Tools: Grammarly (AI writing assistant), Notion AI (report drafting & structuring), ChatGPT (content co-creation & summarisation).

Synthesising multiple data sources for strategic planning

AI can analyse survey results, financial reports, and performance metrics, highlighting patterns and key trends that might take hours to extract manually.

  • Leadership Opportunity: AI-assisted data synthesis allows leaders to quickly identify actionable insights, making strategic planning more effective.

  • Recommended Tools: Tableau (AI-powered data visualisation), Power BI (advanced business intelligence & analytics), MonkeyLearn (AI-driven text & data analysis).

Automating feedback & employee sentiment analysis

AI-driven tools can scan employee feedback, performance reviews, and pulse surveys to identify engagement trends and areas needing attention.

  • Leadership Opportunity: Managers can make data-driven decisions to improve culture, morale, and team productivity without spending excessive time on manual feedback collection.

  • Recommended Tools: Qualtrics (employee sentiment analysis), Culture Amp (AI-driven engagement insights), Lattice (performance & feedback automation).

Reducing cognitive load by handling routine communications

AI can assist in drafting routine emails, summarising lengthy documents, and generating response templates for frequently asked questions.

  • Leadership Opportunity: Leaders can spend more time coaching and leading conversations rather than drafting repetitive communications.

  • Recommended Tools: Microsoft Copilot (email drafting & summaries), Jasper (AI-powered business writing), GrammarlyGO (context-aware communication assistance).

The Cons & Risks of AI in the Workplace

Bias & fairness concerns

AI algorithms can unintentionally reinforce biases present in training data, leading to skewed hiring decisions or subjective performance evaluations.

  • Leadership Response: Leaders must regularly audit AI decisions to ensure fairness and mitigate potential biases.

Data privacy & security risks

AI systems require large amounts of data, raising concerns about personal privacy and security.

  • Relevant Laws & Regulations: AI use in New Zealand must comply with the Privacy Act 2020, which governs data collection, use, and disclosure. Organisations should also conduct a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) before implementing AI to mitigate risks. The OECD AI Principles, which New Zealand follows, promote responsible and transparent AI use.

  • Leadership Response: People leaders must ensure AI tools comply with these legal frameworks and clearly communicate data usage policies. (Privacy Act 2020, Privacy Impact Assessment Guidance, OECD AI Principles)

Workforce anxiety & job displacement fears

Employees may worry that AI will replace jobs, leading to resistance and lower engagement.

  • Leadership Response: Transparent communication is key. Leaders should frame AI as a tool that enhances roles rather than eliminating them.

How Leaders Can Balance AI’s Benefits and Risks

  • Lead with Transparency – Be clear about how AI is being used and its impact on jobs.

  • Focus on AI as an Augmenting Tool – Show employees how AI can make their jobs easier rather than replace them.

  • Upskill & Reskill Employees – Invest in training programs so employees can leverage AI effectively.

  • Use AI Responsibly – Implement ethical guidelines and regularly assess AI decisions for fairness and impact.

Resources for Further Exploration

Final Thought: AI is a leadership opportunity

AI is not a replacement for human intelligence - it’s a tool to amplify it. Leaders who proactively integrate AI while prioritising human skills, ethics, and engagement will set their teams up for long-term success.

The future of work is here - how will you lead in it?