The Lattice's Post
I would like to offer a few thoughts on Lattice’s CEO Sarah Franklin post announcing Lattice’s support for the responsible hiring of AI and initial plans to pursue solutions in their product. Specifically, on the commentary this post received. Re-post of this blog on LinkedIn generated a lot of negative and snarky responses. Three days later, Lattice announced that they will not pursue support for AI workers in their product at this time given the perceived community response.
Full disclosure: I'm writing this, of course, in my role at Humatron AI — an early stage startup developing an API platform for hirable software-defined workforce. Humatron AI is in an adjacent space to Lattice — but has a different angle altogether.
Quick Observations
Let me start with several quick facts and observations from someone who’s deeply involved in the AI industry and has been a ML/NLP/GenAI practitioner for the last 10+ years:
- AI performs 100s of jobs — today
- That includes examples for most job types with text in / text out workflows.
- E.g. financial analysis, paralegal, supply chain optimization, PR content, direct sales, tech support — all of which have 100s of production AI implementations.
- Next gen models / agents (GPT5, etc.) will expand that further.
- Current generation of AI "workers" are packaged as copilots
- Individual productivity tools only, one-to-one linked to a single human.
- We don’t think of them yet as “workers” performing a "job".
- Next gen AI “workers” will be packaged as AI Workforce
- Social and organizational intelligence & autonomous working skills.
- Hire, onboard and work with AI using Email, Zoom, Slack, Teams, etc.
- AI Workforce delivers unique set of advantages
- AI is impervious to constant hiring/retention/separation cycle.
- AI never quits, never gets sick, never late, never burns out.
- AI always learns, retains and shares all the knowledge.
- Humans aren’t going anywhere 🤘
- Hybrid human/AI workforce is the future of work.
- By 2035 80% of workforce will be human, 20% will be AI.
- In this hybrid world — AI must adapt to the way humans work (not the other way around).
The emergence of a hybrid workforce is the result of an inevitable drive for higher efficiency and productivity from businesses. Majority of jobs will still be performed by humans in the foreseeable future — but not an insignificant number of jobs will be completed or at least significantly supported by AI workers.
That is the fact.
For this hybrid workforce to be viable — AI must adapt to how humans work, and become part of our business processes and software, so that the whole team can be efficient and productive. There is nothing unethical, dehumanizing or politically incorrect in working with AI. AI is and will remain a software/hardware tool that is going to work alongside and in collaboration with us humans.
I actually applaud Lattice’s bold move to pioneer this initial work — especially coming from a larger, more established company. There will be many “two steps forward and one step back” as we inch forward in our understanding of how to adapt and integrate centuries old labor force architecture with new AI capabilities.
P.S.
Sure, to some, the premises in Lattice’s blog may appear to be way ahead of their time. But just as it took the Internet and other groundbreaking innovations significant time to receive broad adoption, so will AI reveal its far-reaching benefits only after their potential will be much better understood. Until then, let’s not bury our heads in the sand and instead give AI the benefit of the doubt when it comes to exploring its future usefulness.
Thank you for reading! 🙏