Technology and the future of hr: how AI is shaping the 'war for talent'

According to Lieven, there are 3 tipping points that had a major impact on the hr industry. A first one we saw in the late 1990s, early 2000s. Every family in Belgium suddenly had a broadband connection, the birth of the Internet. People no longer read printed newspapers, they read them digitally. There was a tremendously rapid transition from print to online.

The second wave came fairly soon after, around 2007, with the abrupt rise of social media in general and LinkedIn in particular. Suddenly, companies had access to a resume database far superior to that of any reputable selection firm in the world.

The third critical point was when mobile became very important. Many companies launched an app. That's how they tried to reach people, in a pretty intrusive way, through target advertising, 24/7. What has been happening since 2022, we might also describe as a tipping point a few years from now.

AI is omnipresent. ChatGPT is now an integral part of recruitment and education. When the tool was launched in 2022, the heavy users were primarily schoolchildren and young students. They fully embraced it for their homework and book reports. For them, AI is a given. We should not ban AI, as some in business might suggest, but instead prepare young people for the job market. Because it’s no longer about the content of these tools, but about understanding them. We need to teach the youth to think critically about the world. Just because something is repeated a thousand times on the internet doesn’t make it true. They must use AI in a way that benefits them, but still continue to think for themselves.

ChatGPT can take over a lot of routine work and do those things you don't like to do. A worker who does not use AI will eventually be replaced by the same worker who does. That's progress, and you can't stop it. So embrace it and jump creatively into it. AI creates space to focus on your core business. So be curious!

Curious about more insights on how brands can prepare for the future? Read our blog posts and listen to our podcast By Humans.

Go to ByHumans: episode 5