The sudden rise of ChatGPT has alarmed professionals, particularly those in the HR industry, because of the chatbot’s ability to provide clear-cut and naturalistic answers with detailed information. The fear is: will ChatGPT replace our jobs?

But instead of looking at ChatGPT as competition or a threat, this artificial intelligence language model can be used to support HR professionals. This chatbot can be trained with new information. Companies can train it on data specific to their needs, including resume screening, successful job applications, and current job postings.

What is ChatGPT and how does it work?

Developed by startup OpenAI, ChatGPT is a variant of the GPT or Generative Pre-trained Transformer model, which is trained on massive amounts of data and can generate human-like answers to questions. It’s like a robot that’s been trained to converse with humans by understanding and generating text.

Companies commonly use chatbots to answer frequently asked questions (FAQs), but ChatGPT is much more than that. ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence language model that uses data to build sentences, utilising its experience to predict what sentence should come next to generate human-like text.

Unlike Alexa or Siri, it doesn’t search the internet for answers. It uses deep learning called “transformative architecture.” ChatGPT is trained on a huge chunk of text data and it understands the patterns between words, phrases, and sentences.

Read more | OpenAI releases new version of viral chatbot ChatGPT

OpenAI on Tuesday unveiled an updated version of ChatGPT called GPT-4. This new and more powerful version is much “more creative and collaborative,” and is capable of analysing images and huge chunks of text, the company said.

How HR in Australia can benefit from ChatGPT

• Streamlining recruitment and employee onboarding. ChatGPT can be used to make the process of recruitment and employee onboarding easier for HR professionals. The chatbot will help improve efficiency and even save time. It can be trained to screen candidates, onboard candidates, answer HR questions, and provide objective guidance on different topics. HR professionals can use ChatGPT to help settle disputes and issues, solve problems, and find solutions.
• Reducing time from answering repetitive questions. ChatGPT can be set to handle repetitive tasks, including answering employee queries, scheduling interviews, and processing leave requests. It frees up HR staff to have more time for more strategic tasks. ChatGPT is an excellent complement to your HR staff.
• Providing efficient communication. The chat interface of ChatGPT makes communication efficient and allows HR staff to instantly address employee queries. It can produce automated replies and support FAQs to streamline the communication process.
• Providing accurate insights and analytics. ChatGPT can give accurate insights and analytics on employee satisfaction, engagement, and performance, helping HR staff in Australia to get a better understanding of the workforce and make informed decisions.
• Offering a personalised employee experience. Because ChatGPT can be customised, HR staff can personalise the employee experience by providing customised training modules, feedback, and learning modules. It can lead to increased employee retention rates and engagement.
• Offering 24/7 chat support. ChatGPT can offer round-the-clock chat support to HR staff, making employees feel valued and supported. It can also lead to job satisfaction and increased productivity.
• Being GPDR-compliant. Because ChatGPT is GPDR-compliant, all employee data is protected and secure. This helps HR staff in Australia meet their compliance requirements.

Limitations of using ChatGPT in HR

• Bias and fairness: Because ChatGPT is trained on billions of uncurated words harvested from the Internet, there is a potential for bias. For instance, it may develop a bias towards a certain type of candidate, especially if the chatbot is not trained to filter candidates well. There may be risks for sexism and racism, which is why removing gendered language is crucial in using this chatbot.
• Data privacy and confidentiality: If ChatGPT is not trained to not share data or information to others, there is a risk that it will share information with anyone who interacts with it.
• Technical issues: Using ChatGPT may require specialised skills and expertise. HR staff must work closely with IT staff to make sure that the chatbot is properly integrated into their systems. Additionally, it’s also time to update your policies to ensure that everyone is on the same page.

ChatGPT can provide efficient, cost-effective, and personalised support to HR staff, while offering valuable insights and analytics. But it also needs to be monitored to look out for bias, data privacy issues, and technical issues.