Artificial intelligence (AI) has become headline news with media stories suggesting that it could potentially take over from human beings, even writing us out of the picture completely. So what does AI mean for the global mobility function? Dr Sue Shortland reports on recent AIRINC research into the role of AI and other technological advancements.
T
he global mobility function has always relied upon the use of technology. As global mobility increases post-pandemic, and the types of policies in place to support it become more
numerous and complex, so the pressure increases upon global mobility professionals to leverage technology to an even greater extent to make their programmes more efficient and effective. The workload of global mobility professionals is
increasing day-by-day as the numbers of policy types being used continue to rise, their complexity increases, the demand for flexibility in policy application increases, and additional aspects of employment are added into the function’s remit. These include managing employees who wish to work from anywhere/remotely. In addition, global mobility has to respond to a widened customer base including the line, the business, and a greater diversity of employee and family clients. The external context is also becoming more complicated
given inflation, economic problems, global political instability, and the increasing demand for top talent. Added together, these factors result in the global mobility professional relying to a far greater degree on technology, particularly automation and the use of application programming interfaces (APIs), than in the past. Indeed, recent research from Mercer indicates that
69% of HR professionals plan to increase investment in digital platforms to support benefit administration and communications within the next three years while 89% of those with such technology already in place claim it supports greater agility. But this raises the question of where AI fits in.
HOW AI FITS IN Artificial intelligence (AI) is not new, but it has become headline news in recent months generating considerable hype and hysteria. As attention-grabbing technology, it has the potential to improve various aspects of the global mobility function’s work and speed up and improve the international relocation process. But first of all, it is important to understand the
difference between AI and other forms of technology. AIRINC defines AI as “an intelligent computer that can learn and act autonomously in order to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence”. It is important to distinguish this from APIs. Here again, it’s useful to draw on AIRINC’s definition of an API as being: “a way
for computer systems to talk to each other…one user interface…that takes advantage of multiple computer platforms”. As such, APIs comprise software ecosystems. AI and APIs need to be distinguished from automation, which refers to “the use of technology and software to automate repetitive and manual tasks, reducing the need for human intervention and increasing efficiency”. Automation can make use of both AI and APIs, with the process speeding up repetitive tasks through improved system workflows. AI is, in effect, a computer that is trained to think like
a human being. We have had experience of chatbots for some years. However, chatbots tend to be quite basic in their ability as they are designed currently to provide pre-defined answers to frequently asked questions. AI in the form of virtual assistants can potentially improve the accuracy of responses as they learn and are more able to provide tailored answers rather than predefined responses. AIRINC’s recent benchmark survey* suggests that
over 70% of organisations currently do not use AI at all within their global mobility programme but it suggests that, in the future, this will fall to less than 10%. Over half of the participants envisage AI being used either to a moderate degree or to an extensive degree going forward. Turning to where AI might be employed, respondents noted that it is most likely to be used within routine tasks including preparation of balance sheets, payroll statements, updating policies, and tax and immigration reporting and compliance. Potentially though, respondents see greater input from automation within these tasks and the use of linked API ecosystems
“ Positive aspects of AI include freeing up global mobility professionals to focus more on strategic issues such that less of their time is spent on routine process tasks and on repetitive functions.”
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THINK GLOBAL PEOPLE AI
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