AI in the Workplace: Empowering (Not Replacing) People
You’ve likely seen a lot of artificial intelligence come and go over the years. Remember Microsoft’s 1990s virtual assistant, Clippy? Despite his roaming eyeballs and mostly unhelpful writing prompts, he was an early (albeit clumsy) pioneer of artificial intelligence.
Today, AI is moving beyond basic administration and accelerating faster than anyone expected. But as with any major shift, skepticism follows close behind:
“Isn’t AI going to replace human jobs?”
If you’re burned out on chasing the next shiny thing and questioning your next step with AI, this one's for you.
Reducing the Work of Work—While Keeping the Human Touch
Employees report that 41% of their work is repetitive and lacks meaning. Repetitive, administrative, low-value tasks are the “work of work.”
AI isn’t about reducing staff—it’s about trading inefficiency for velocity.
“There will always be a need for the work people do. AI is merely moving the mundane away so [your people] can focus on higher-level, more fulfilling, engaging work,” said Brett Mitchell, Allied’s Senior VP of Technology, on a recent episode of The Allied Angle podcast.
Some leaders hesitate to adopt enterprise AI out of fear that over-automation will strip the human touch from the end experience for members or customers. But here’s the truth: AI will never replace your people. Instead, it can partner with them to give them the time and margin to focus on the meaningful, human-centric aspects of their work.
The slower the adoption, the greater the risk of burnout and disengagement, both for your employees and your members or customers.
When done right, AI enhances the experience; it doesn’t replace it. So, what’s the secret to getting started?
The Secret Sauce to Accelerating AI
The secret sauce to accelerating AI is to simply start. Simple doesn’t mean easy — but it can begin by imagining the possibilities of AI’s positive impact:
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- How would your frontline employees' day-to-day work be impacted if member/customer self-service increased by 60%?
- What if your lending staff could automate 78% of loan applications and qualify 40% more borrowers?
- For the borrower who just discovered their loan is in default, imagine if they could bypass the impersonal phone tree and instead access an empathetic, self-service banking platform — one that immediately presents clear, personalized options to correct the deficiency and regain control?
These are all human-first experiences — powered by AI, not overshadowed by it.
Adopt to Compete—or Avoid and Risk Obsolescence
AI is rapidly becoming a differentiator in both employees’ work experience and member/customer experiences.
One in four employees already use AI at work, yet 43% report having little to no guidance or policies around AI in the workplace.
That’s a major discrepancy — and a risky one.
More importantly, consider the risks of employees using AI without guardrails, which can open doors to:
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- Data leaks
- Unauthorized access
- Compliance violations
Blocking AI tools at the network level is one option, but the smarter move is to provide enterprise-level AI that’s secure, responsible, and built specifically for your business.
Proactively educating teams and setting clear usage guidelines is the best way to ensure AI supports — not threatens — your organization.
Closing Thoughts: It’s All About the Relationships
It’s an exciting time to be a financial institution leader.
New tools and resources are emerging to remove the “work of work” and empower people to focus on high-impact, excellent, and meaningful work.
Amid the nearly limitless possibilities and many unknowns of AI, the “people serving people” mission of the credit union movement is not silenced by AI—it is magnified by it.