Employees in the United States are turning to their HR teams for information on artificial intelligence, as they feel disconnected from their leaders during the adoption of the technology, according to a new report.

Findings from The Predictive Index (PI) revealed that employees do not feel their feedback influences AI implementation, leaving widespread uncertainty about their leadership's involvement in the tech adoption.

"Too many employees aren't hearing enough from executives about AI, so they're turning to peers and HR to fill in the blanks," said Matt Poepsel, Vice President and Godfather of Talent Optimisation at PI, in a statement.

According to the report, employees tend to trust colleagues that they know when it comes to the unknown, such as generative AI.

"So perhaps it's no surprise employees cited HR and their immediate peers as their most trusted sources of AI information," it added.

Opportunity for HR

This attention on HR presents an opportunity for the department to present itself as "key advisers" who can guide employees' AI understanding and experience, according to the report.

"They can also serve as a key balancer when leadership projects confidence in AI tools they don't even fully understand themselves, since the downstream effects among employees can include imposter syndrome, insecurity, and outright panic."

It also presents HR with an opportunity to alter the perception of AI's function.

"It's no easy task, but the HR and People Operations teams that convey to their people AI is not a cultural disruptor will not just salvage culture. They'll actually amplify its strengths," the report read.

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