HR tech company plan to treat AI bots as employees backfires

A plan by US-based HR software company Lattice to treat AI bots as actual employees was widely criticised as inappropriate, forcing the company to backtrack.

Lattice CEO Sarah Franklin announced that it intended to onboard AI bots, referring to them as "digital workers" or "AI employees," and integrate them into its human resource management system in a "groundbreaking" initiative. The bots were to receive employee records, undergo onboarding, set goals, receive training, and have human managers.

The announcement sparked widespread criticism from HR and technology industry professionals, with critics arguing that the move blurred the lines between human and machine roles in the workplace and raised ethical and practical questions about the nature of employment and the potential for AI to replace human jobs. The backlash resulted in Lattice scraping the plan.

The controversy highlighted growing concerns about the role of AI in the workplace and the potential implications of anthropomorphising AI tools.