Article by Eric Mosley: Every organization wants better people data. This information about employee satisfaction and engagement is often used by organizations to assess and improve company culture. But how does the way we collect people data affect its ultimate value to the organization?
In the race to use artificial intelligence (AI), many organizations have defaulted to a familiar mindset around data: Collect everything and sort it out later. But most Americans are uneasy about how companies use their data and are resigned to feeling that they’ve lost control, according to a Pew Research Center survey. And nearly 68% of consumers globally say they are either somewhat or very concerned about their privacy online. These kinds of feelings are dangerous because trust evaporates when people feel watched rather than respected.
From quiet monitoring to inferred behaviour, the rise of passive data mining is triggering a backlash. Some people are setting their own boundaries by asking companies not to track their clicks, mine their Slack or email messages, or make their data part of the company’s algorithm without consent.
If we want people to trust AI systems – or the organizations building them – we need to start with data practices that earn that trust. That means moving from pure extraction to something more cooperative, human and voluntary…(More)”.
