“Employees need to understand the role that AI is playing in their working life and in the relationships they have with customers and other employees.” – Justin Tauber, Salesforce.
Hear the entire iTnews podcast with Salesforce’s Justin Tauber.
As artificial intelligence, or ‘AI’, becomes pervasive in Australian workplaces, business leaders face a prickly challenge — bridging the ‘AI trust gap’ between the public’s often overblown or fearful perceptions of AI’s capabilities and the responsible, ethical implementation of these emergent technologies.
This trust gap that Salesforce research has identified stemmed from disconnect between the casual AI experiences Australians have with, say, consumer chatbots and generative AI systems versus the rigorous standards businesses must uphold for safety, accuracy, accountability and privacy.
“The key is incorporating AI in such a way that you can leverage existing governance models,” Salesforce general manager of innovation and AI culture Justin Tauber told an iTnews podcast.
“AI doesn’t remove the need to comply with [existing] laws. What’s more important is that you understand how the use of AI might impact your ability to conform with those laws.”
Transparency and impact assessment were crucial, he said. Leaders must map where AI is in the organisation, and empower frontline staff to evaluate downstream effects — from privacy implications to vulnerabilities in customer service.
“These are things that can be assessed and identified ahead of time, and the risks mitigated,” Tauber said
Upskilling to the AI-enabled workforce of tomorrow – today
While equipping Australian workers with the skills to thrive in an AI-powered workplace is essential for success, it doesn’t mean every Australian overnight must become a data scientist just to function, contribute and prosper.
By providing accessible training and integrating AI tools within familiar workflows, Australian organisations can foster collaboration and build trust between employees and AI systems. This gives workers a better understanding of AI’s capabilities and limitations with their specific roles.
“Employees need to understand the role that AI is playing in their working life and in the relationships they have with customers and other employees,” Tauber said.
“The key thing is incorporating it in such a way that you can leverage those existing governance models.”
Integrating AI seamlessly into existing workflows — with clear guardrails — is proving far more effective than providing open-ended access. “Giving people just access to ChatGPT on the side is not effective; that becomes what I’d call, ‘Shadow AI’,” Tauber said.
Humanising AI starts with clarity and transparency
Business leaders confront a twin challenge to blend the human and the artificial. So even as they upskill and retrain humans to make the most of the new AI tools so, too, must AIs be ‘humanised’ to augment Aussie workers.
To guide this process, Tauber suggested drawing parallels with welcoming a new intern, work experience kid or staff member to the organisation.
“You give them guardrails, you give them a clear role. You tell them when they should escalate. You’d also give them a manager who has responsibility for ensuring that their performance is up to scratch,” Tauber said, recommending that business leaders communicate transparently with workers about how and where AI will be used in the organisation.
Applying this ‘people-centric approach’ to AI means providing human users with the necessary information, setting boundaries and ensuring accountability measures were in place, while adequately assessing the impact AI could have in the business.
“These are the basic things that we’d expect you do for an intern, and you should think about doing the same things when you’re incorporating AI into your organisation’s workflow,” he said.
Next steps: Getting Started with Ethical AI
Tauber recommended that Australian business leaders keen to embrace ethical, responsible AI first look inward, leveraging existing governance frameworks and identifying where AI can enhance workflows
“Don’t imagine that you’re starting with a blank sheet of paper. Use the people and the context that you already have to assess the risks and opportunities,” he said.
“With the right guardrails in place, the benefits of AI can be realised while maintaining trust and compliance.”
Want more?
For Australian businesses seeking further guidance for their ethical AI journey, some of the frameworks referenced in this podcast include:
- Commonwealth AI Ethics Principles: High-level guidance on responsible AI use, covering transparency, accountability, fairness and contestability.
- NSW AI Assessment Framework: Practical framework with downloadable assessment tools for agencies implementing ethical AI covering governance and oversight; risk management and mitigation; ethics; capability and capacity building; and continuous improvement.
- ISO Standards for AI Management (420001:2023): Global standards gradually being adopted in Australia, providing a structured approach to managing AI systems.