Fictional AI-generated illustration
It helps to think of AI as a tool that can help us do our work better. Spending less time on repetitive manual tasks can leave more room for customers, solving problems and learning. This is also a useful starting point when discussing how AI may affect someone’s own work.
Where does working time go?
Start with everyday tasks. What does an employee write, compile or organise week after week? Where could AI help reduce repetition? Employees themselves can often explain which parts of their work take time and which need concentration and personal judgement.
Possible uses include organising publicly available guidance or preparing a first draft. The employee checks what is missing, whether the content is accurate and whether it serves its purpose. Any benefit becomes clear only when time spent checking and correcting is included.
Aim to make the whole task run more smoothly. When a tool suits the task and people know how to use it, it can improve productivity and free up time for more important work.
Give employees room to learn
Using new technology takes practice. Employers should make time for learning during the working day and agree on where people can get help. Employees need guidance on how to use the service in their own tasks.
Employees can also use AI to develop their skills. They might ask it to explain an unfamiliar concept, suggest another approach to a problem or provide practice questions on a topic they are learning. The answers still need to be assessed and checked against reliable material. AI can present incorrect information convincingly.
Learning to describe a task precisely and recognise when a suggested solution does not work also builds skills. Share both useful approaches and situations where AI did not help. A colleague’s experience can offer useful ideas for your own work and help you avoid the same pitfalls.
Talk about the future of people’s work too
“Will AI take my job?” is a topic worth discussing at work. An employee may worry about keeping their skills up to date, changing duties or whether a new tool will increase their workload. Use the conversation to understand what worries the employee about their work and what support they need.
Managers can discuss with employees which tasks they intend to use AI for and why. Make clear which changes have been decided and which are still being considered. The conversation can also cover what the employee would like to learn and how they would spend their time if repetitive manual work decreased. These questions make the impact of AI on work easier to grasp than discussing the future of work as a whole.
The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health’s material on AI emphasises employee participation, skills and monitoring the effects of adoption. In practice, this means listening to employees’ experiences even when a new way of working adds strain. Speeding up one task does not establish how an entire role or staffing need will change.
Agree on use and assess the benefits together
People need to know which tools they may use, what information they may enter and who checks the result. Start with a task the employee knows and whose quality they can assess. This makes it easier to learn how to use the tool in the context of their own work.
Revisit the experience after some use. Did the work become easier? Was there more time for other tasks? What needed correcting, and what did the employee learn? If there was no benefit, change the approach or stop using the tool for that task.
Describe the skills needed through practical work
As tasks change, skill requirements may change too. “AI skills” says little on its own. Instead, describe the material an employee needs to handle, how they should assess results and where their own expertise is required. These observations can inform employee development and recruitment planning.
A useful starting point is to help each employee find an aspect of their work where new technology might help. With practice and discussion, teams can find ways to reduce routine work, build skills and focus on tasks that need a human contribution.
