What are the risks with the use of AI at work?

AI is shiny. AI is new. AI is sexy. And AI is problematic and not entirely understood. It is for those last reasons that, according to HR Brew, corporate America is either restricting employees' use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT or banning them outright.

I don't have the answer for which of allowing, limiting, or banning generative AI is the correct answer for your business. You should, however, consider these three risks in evaluating whether, when, and how your employees use generative AI at work.

WIRTW #672: the “it’s over, Johnny” edition

I spent five days this week with 12,000 other people at the Craft Brewers Conference. You read that number correctly, 12,000. It's something I never could have imagined doing this time last year, or even a few short months ago.

This week not-so-coincidentally also marked the official end of the Covid-19 national and public health emergencies. This end doesn't mean Covid isn't a thing anymore. It still exists and it still can still make you sick. It just means that it's now endemic instead of a pandemic. 

What's now going to change as a result? Frankly, not much. It's been months since most of us have moved on from Covid. We've stopped masking. We've stopped social distancing. Heck, as much as many of lauded "work from home" and "remote meetings" as the future of work, many of us have returned to our workplaces and to in-person meetings. 

As cautious as I was personally during the pandemic, I'm happy to be back to "normal." Humans are social creatures, and our brains need social interaction. The end of pandemic, however, doesn't mean I'll throw caution to the wind in every situation. For example, I don't think I'll ever not mask up on an airplane. With four shots and one bout of Covid in my system, and less Covid circulating in the community, I'm just willing to take and accept more risk with the virus than I was a few months ago, and certain more than a year ago. 

Three cheers to the end of the Covid-19 national and public health emergencies. It's been a long three years and two months. But we made it across the finish line. Let's just hope that we apply public health lessons we learned and do a better job managing the next public health crisis that confronts us.

A eulogy for Heather Armstrong

Heather Armstrong, the "queen of the mommy bloggers" and the author of Dooce.com, is dead from an apparent suicide after a relapse in her sobriety. She was only 47 years old. She leaves behind two children and a legacy as one of the most important social media influencers ever.

In February 2002, Heather became the first person of which I'm aware to be fired for something she wrote online. One of her co-workers discovered that Heather was the author of an anonymous blog that, in part, discussed her workplace and her co-workers. Most of what she wrote was unflattering. That person anonymously reported Heather to their HR department. She was then fired because of some of the things she had written.

My privilege is NOT a superpower

I am currently in Nashville, at the Craft Brewers Conference. I'm spending my time split between networking at the Start A Brewery lounge that my firm is co-sponsoring, and attending educational sessions. One such session, which I attended yesterday, was titled, Privilege as Your Superpower. 

Here's the session description:

In these turbulent times, so many know they want to do something about inequity, but don't know where to start. Unfortunately, concerns about saying the wrong thing or not having the power to create change lead many to do nothing. It is essential for leaders to understand the concepts of both systemic and individual privilege, because when they do, they will find that their privileges are actually their superpowers.

It is a laudable goal to promote the understanding of "privilege" so that we can do better with DEI issues in our organizations.

But here's the problem — the presenter was a white, female leadership consultant. 

The 6th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2023” is … the defecation denier

“Joshua Amin alleges that he was denied a bathroom break by his supervisor at UPS warehouse until he was forced to defecate on himself at his workstation.”

This really happened … or at least Amin claims in his lawsuit that it did.

According to Amin, he was ill and needed to use the restroom ASAP, which a supervisor approved. On the way, he ran into division manager Sergio Castro, who told him that he had already used his break and that he needed to get back to work. After Amin explained his situation, Castro threatened to “walk him out right now” if Amin didn’t return to his workstation.

After Amin complied, Castro followed and taunted him, saying, “I guess if you got to go … you can use [the restroom] right here, where you are.” That is exactly what Amin did. Castro then yelled out that if Amin’s coworkers needed to use the restroom outside of their ten-minute break, they could relieve themselves at their station, “just like Josh.” Castro also forced Amin to work in soiled pants for another twenty minutes.

Can we please stop treating employees like children. If someone has to go the bathroom you let them go to the bathroom. You don’t bully them into soiling their pants and further bully them about it after the fact. This behavior is inexcusable, and it’s why this is my 6th nominee for the Worst Employer of 2023.

WIRTW #671: the “CBC” edition

Next week I'll be at the Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville — a four-day gathering presented by the Brewers Association of all things craft brewers and craft beer. There are loads of speakers spread across eight educational tracks, a massive trade show, and too many networking opportunities to count.

On the educational front, I'm speaking twice: once on Sunday (at 2:55p in Davidson Ballroom A) as part of the THRIVE pre-conference workshop discussing, along with my co-presenter Ren Navarro, ADA accessibility and inclusivity for employees and patrons; and again on Tuesday (at 1p in Davidson Ballroom B) discussing how to legally pay tipped employees.

On the networking front, instead of opting for a trade show booth, my firm is sponsoring the Start A Brewery lounge. Start A Brewery is a community of craft beer industry veterans who share our knowledge and experience in support of the craft beer community by helping new breweries and breweries in planning.

If you're at CBC and want to connect, look for me in the Start A Brewery lounge. I will be in and out from 10a - 4p on May 8 and 9 (the lounge is also open May 10).

The lounge is located on the 3rd floor of the Music City Center, centrally across from the Expo entrance at Hall B-C. There will be beer available on either side of us and we'll have couches and charging stations to refresh yourself and your devices.

Please let me know if you plan on stopping in so that I can make sure I'm present and available. And please say hello if you're at either of my speaking sessions or just happen to run into me at the Conference or at any of the events around Nashville. I will happily share a beer with you and cheers our industry.

Here's what I read this week that you should read, too.

When you offer a reason for something, you better be really, really sure it’s correct

It is with great sadness that we announce that the Founders Detroit Taproom will be permanently closing its doors today.

Unfortunately, our Detroit location has not been immune to the struggle to regain foot traffic after temporary Covid closures that have impacted restaurants and bars across the nation.

That was the message that Founders Brewing Company posted across its social media channels earlier this week.

There is no doubt that the bar and restaurant industry has struggled throughout the pandemic and, in pockets, continues to struggle. Consider, however, that less than three hours before Founders announced its Detroit taproom closure, it was sued by a Black employee claiming that the brewery promoted her "purely for optic reasons" and subjected her to "egregious racial harassment" that was "so objectively racially hostile that she had no choice but to resign" last week.