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In an ever-evolving world driven by technology, <keyword id="19904566" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="artificial-intelligence" source="keywords">artificial intelligence</keyword> (AI) has been making waves in nearly every sector. Workers are constantly threatened by the prospect of “AI taking their jobs”. But what if we told you that the tool could just as easily dominate our classrooms as well? William Hersh, M.D., a seasoned professor at Oregon Health &amp; Science University (OHSU), was particularly intrigued by AI's growing influence in his field. As a medical informatics educator, he sought to explore just how well <keyword id="19896272" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="generative-AI" source="keywords">generative AI</keyword> could compete with his human students. The results? Surprising, to say the least. <h2>An experiment in education</h2>Hersh’s curiosity led him to conduct an experiment where he pitted six large-language <keyword id="19924380" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AI-models" source="keywords">AI models</keyword> — including ChatGPT — against students enrolled in his introductory course on biomedical and health informatics. The goal was to see how AI would perform when tasked with the same assessments as his students. The <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-024-01251-0">findings</a>, published in npj <keyword id="20320357" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-medicine" source="keywords">Digital Medicine</keyword>, showed that AI models outperformed up to 75% of the class. "This does raise concern about cheating, but there is a larger issue here," Hersh commented. "How do we know that our students are actually learning and mastering the knowledge and skills they need for their future professional work?" <h2>The role of <keyword id="23201889" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AI-in-knowledge-based-learning" source="Orion">AI in knowledge-based learning</keyword></h2>The study analysed the performance of 139 students who took the course in 2023, with AI models tackling multiple-choice questions and short-answer prompts. The AI models scored impressively, landing in the top 50th to 75th percentile. According to Hersh, these results raise essential questions about the future of student assessment, particularly in knowledge-heavy subjects like biomedical informatics. Although the AI excelled in this particular course, Hersh was quick to point out that generative models might not fare as well in more hands-on or participatory academic settings, where critical thinking and complex skills development are vital. For Hersh, this balance between mastering knowledge and applying it in real-world scenarios is at the heart of <keyword id="19918893" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="medical-education" source="keywords">medical education</keyword>. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="113364057" title="AI is entering classrooms in Italy, new learning tools to be tested in 15 classrooms across four regions" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> <h2>A new era for medical students</h2>The AI's performance has stirred up an age-old debate in the academic community: how much information should students be expected to memorise versus being able to access through technological tools? Hersh recalls a time in medical school when one of his attending physicians insisted that every doctor should carry all medical knowledge "in their head." Even back then, Hersh saw the limitations of such an approach. "The knowledge base of medicine has long surpassed the capacity of the human brain to memorise it all," he noted, emphasising the importance of making smart use of available technology. <h2>Striking the right balance </h2>Despite the impressive capabilities of AI, Hersh remains confident that medicine — and most academic disciplines — will always require a "human touch." Critical decision-making, nuanced judgement calls, and compassionate patient care cannot be fully replaced by machines. "There are a lot of things that healthcare professionals do that are pretty straightforward, but there are those instances where it gets more complicated and you have to make judgement calls," Hersh said. "That's when it helps to have that broader perspective." As fall classes approach, Hersh isn’t worried about AI encouraging cheating. His solution? Continuously updating the curriculum and ensuring that assessments go beyond what AI can quickly retrieve. "In any scientific field, there are new advancements all the time," he remarked. "Large-language models aren’t necessarily up to date on all of it." Hersh’s experiment underscores the broader implications of <keyword id="8581687" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AI-in-education" source="Orion">AI in education</keyword>. While AI has the potential to assist in areas such as medical knowledge recall, it cannot — and should not — replace the critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and human interaction that healthcare professionals need to succeed. As AI continues to evolve, so too will educational approaches, aiming to equip students with both a solid foundation of knowledge and the tools to navigate an increasingly AI-enhanced world. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="113315283" title="Open AI’s latest ‘Strawberry’ will actually think before it acts!" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

A medical professor pitted AI models against his students to see who would score better on his tests. The results were shocking!

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Ferring Pharmaceuticals, a Swiss biopharma firm, focuses on worker well-being and DEI.</li><li>Purvi Tailor, head of human resources in its US business, is on BI's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/workforce-innovation-board-tackles-topics-such-as-c-suite-innovation-ai-worker-wellness-2024-8">Workforce Innovation board</a>.</li></ul>A lot of companies say they are like a family, but at Ferring Pharmaceuticals, a privately owned biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Switzerland, family-centrism is part of doing business."In the US, we are a leader in several therapeutic areas, including reproductive medicine, orthopedics, and gastroenterology," said Purvi Tailor, Ferring's head of human resources in the US. "Our mission is to help people build families and live better lives. It's a purpose that the employees that work here can feel very connected to."Tailor joined Ferring in 2021 following roles at Johnson &amp; Johnson, American Express, and JP Morgan.She said that Ferring has grown more intentional about focusing on worker well-being, which is particularly important for the highly competitive field of healthcare. "The war for talent is always on and the best talent always have options," she said.The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.What are the benefits for companies focused on worker well-being?Our overarching philosophy is that if our workers have a good sense of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/flexibility-can-increase-worker-well-being-2024-8">well-being</a>, ultimately, it helps our business be that much more successful. We've defined well-being in a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/employee-wellbeing-programs-help-companies-perform-better-and-manage-cost-2024-7">holistic way</a>, so it's not just about physical well-being; it's also about mental well-being and financial well-being. We've implemented various initiatives in the last two to three years that focus on each of those.You can provide a lot of tools and resources, but if you don't have the right culture within the company that people are experiencing, that obviously has a much more detrimental impact on employee experience. So, our approach is twofold. First, the benefits and the policies. And second, creating the right type of workplace that people want to be a part of.What specific programs are targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion?Relative to other companies that I've worked for, in some ways we've had the luxury to start a little bit later. Whereas some companies have been doing this for 20 years, for us it became more of a burning platform over the last couple of years.Since Covid and all the various things that have happened since, having an inclusive culture has really become one of the more important things for us.Because inclusion is something that can be very personal and difficult, we're partnering with an external event vendor to create smaller group experiences. We put a lot of things on the table and really try to make it an inclusive environment for understanding, sharing stories, and talking about different scenarios that happen in the workplace.We used scenarios that we've seen either happen at Ferring or outside, but real, lived, everyday kind of things that actually happen. Leaders found that really meaningful because it gave them an opportunity in a very safe environment to explore those situations and recognize them when they see them.The goal is to make sure that when they go back to their offices or desks, they're like, 'Okay, actually, I'm gonna be able to use that as I start to see things.'As Ferring has grown in the US, you've had to start many programs from scratch. What advice do you have for other companies that are just getting started thinking about DEI and worker well-being initiatives?What's really important is to ensure that whatever you're doing, you can connect it with the values of your company.With all of the various things that we're doing, especially in the wellness and DEI space, they align well with our values and our mission of helping people live better lives. It needs to come from an authentic place. Because it's sort of obvious when people are faking it.Our head of DEI in the US has so much passion for this space, and that really drives her as an individual and her purpose. The quality of what she puts out is remarkable, and she's able to create the right narrative that employees and leaders who are in positions to share it are able to grab some of that enthusiasm.What policies demonstrate your focus on worker well-being?One of the biggest things we've done in the last two years is a fertility benefit program called Building Families at Ferring with unlimited financial support for your journey, whether that's IVF, surrogacy, or adoption. So it covers all the many pathways that people could take to build a family.It also offers 26 weeks of paid parental leave and the policy is agnostic of your marital status and your family structures. It's truly a benefit for all that want to build a family.It's so core to our business. We thought we needed to give back to employees in the same way that we want to show up in the marketplace.What workforce issues are commonplace in the pharmaceutical industry?Attrition is systemic; it's just the norm. Over the last few years, we've managed to really stabilize the organization from an attrition perspective more so than we ever have in the previous five years.For us, retention of our talent is critical, as I know it is for all companies. You want to retain the best and make sure that they're developing and getting to whatever their aspirations are. Pharma is very competitive.We recently launched a uro-oncology business, and in the early part of this year, we hired about 60 people with roles across functions, including sales, marketing, finance, and medical. If the pharma market is generally very competitive, oncology is even more so. The things that we can do to make this a great place to work are a big part of how we approach that piece of talent management.

In the competitive world of pharma, companies need to focus on worker well-being to retain top talent, says Ferring's HR exec

This article is part of "<a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/workforce-innovation">Workforce Innovation</a>," a series exploring the trends and leaders shaping enterprise transformation.When Peter Montgomery worked in advertising, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/when-to-quit-six-figure-job-for-mental-health">long days at the office</a> were part of the culture."If you left at 6 p.m., the old criticism was, 'Oh, you're having a half day, are you?'" he said.Now in a role overseeing the creative team at the cloud-based accounting platform Xero, Montgomery can make dinner most nights for his wife and two children.The flexibility built into his job allows him to head to his home in Wellington, New Zealand, in time to prepare one of his hit meals, like burrito bowls or Thai meatballs with coconut sauce. Cooking gives him a chance to connect with his family and unwind before, on some nights, he logs back on to crank out a bit more work."It's really satisfying — gratifying — to actually have the ability to make work fit around the needs of my family," Montgomery, 50, told Business Insider.<div type="image" title="Peter Montgomery stands in his kitchen" height="2268" width="3024" msid="112355413" hostid="261" sizebytes="296412"></div>That ability to make a career conform, where possible, to an employee's life is one of the simple and often inexpensive ways employers can boost their employees' well-being. Increasingly, employers are looking for novel methods to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-companies-boost-employee-wellbeing-build-healthy-culture-2021-11">improve workers' welfare</a> because provisions like health insurance aren't cutting it on their own.A recent Gallup survey found worker well-being slipped globally to 34% in 2023 from 35% the year before. The decline followed several years of modest gains during the pandemic, when many bosses were quick to check in on workers. In recent years, however, many have reported <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/burnout-work-boss-left-office-on-stretcher-2024-4">feeling burned out</a> and stressed by their jobs.Boosting worker well-being is good for employees, of course, but it's also good for the bottom line. And it's critical for boosting other measures of corporate and worker health — things like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/employee-engagement-productivity-remote-work-hybrid-burnout-managers-office-expectations-2024-1">engagement on the job</a>.<h2 id="69df1fe1-7cd9-4199-a2b8-983c72206fc1">Helping ease money worries</h2>Erica Golden, the chief people officer at Banyan Software, told BI that perhaps the biggest threat to employee well-being was worry over money. So the company, which owns more than 50 software businesses, is setting up what it's calling an employee resource fund. Workers can ask to tap into it when they face a surprise expense. That could be an unexpected medical bill or an outsize expense related to caring for a family member.The parameters for what might win approval, Golden said, are broad because the company wants to be responsive to a worker who might, for example, ask to draw $5,000 from the fund to deal with a unique financial hardship. A small number of business leaders review requests to keep the process simple and to respect worker privacy, she said."We just wanted them to be able to fill out a simple form and get what they need and feel that relief without a lot of judgment or protocol or their leaders really being involved in a lot of conversations," Golden said.To start, there's about $100,000 in the fund, she said.Golden said the company's leaders understood that employees facing crises would not be able to focus on their work. She added that these types of benefits were good for retaining workers. The employee resource fund also represents a modest shift away from big, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/workforce-innovation-series-c-suite-worker-well-being-dei-2024-6">one-size-fits-all benefits</a> that might not be as useful to all workers, Golden said.Leaders paying attention to what employees want are finding the questions on people's minds are, "Are you seeing me as an individual?" she said. "And: Would you be there if I was in a time of crisis?"Supporting employees extends to other areas, Golden said. Part of solving the well-being puzzle involves workers being able to feel they can trust their leaders — including with the direction of their careers, she said."Some of that is learning and development. This other piece is, 'I want to be able to make some choices about what gear I shift into for my career,'" Golden said. There might be times when employees need to pull back and take on a less intense role to make room for things going on in their lives.<h2 id="958d4c5c-85ed-42d1-97ee-389d90623e00">From legal services to pet insurance</h2>Other forms of flexibility can benefit workers and improve well-being. Bradd Chignoli, head of national accounts for group benefits at MetLife, told BI that many employers were offering more in their benefits packages than a decade ago.In some cases, workers pay for all or a share of these add-ons, he said. But that's often because these benefits are things workers have asked for in surveys. Chignoli said these offerings included <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-legal-advice-workplace-benefit-financial-help-2023-11">legal services</a>, identity-theft programs, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/thousand-dollar-vet-bill-pet-insurance-2024-3">pet insurance</a>.Laying out a wider variety of benefits better meets workers' needs — and thereby boosts their overall well-being — by lining up more-nuanced benefits, instead of the blanket approach, he said."If I'm Gen Z versus a baby boomer, there may be certain products that are better fit," Chignoli said. "If I'm single versus having three kids, there may be certain benefits that are more appropriate for me. So that's where a lot of that personalization comes in."For Xero's Montgomery, what works is leaving the office on time so he can prepare those meals for his family. He tries to instill the idea of achieving a personal balance in those who report to him.Montgomery tells his team the quality of their work can't decline but that flexibility is often possible. Sometimes, they have to work extra time or outside normal business hours, but not too often."It's the exception, not the expectation, that we do that," he said. "So there's always a balance."

Boosting worker well-being doesn't have to be pricey

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Many companies are introducing return-to-office mandates, and not all employees are happy with them.</li><li>Companies requiring 5-day RTO will lose valuable employees, says Craig Levey, an employment lawyer.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Craig Levey, an employment law attorney and partner at Bennett &amp; Belfort, P.C., a law firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The following has been edited for length and clarity.Companies want their employees to be productive, and they generally have the right to introduce policies that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-requiring-return-to-office-rto-mandate">mandate returning to the office</a> five days per week.In some businesses, employees can be productive remotely, but I truly believe in others, they do need to be in the office. Personally, I think <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pros-of-hybrid-work-why-it-could-be-best-scenario-2023-10">hybrid is the perfect balance</a>, with employees working in the office three to four days a week and being remote one to two days per week.I think every company that mandates five days per week in office is going to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ravin-jesuthasan-why-companies-enforce-rto-mandates-future-of-work-2024-8">lose some very valuable employees</a>, which will be a blow to them.Ultimately, an employee whose company implements a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-ceo-return-to-office-mandate-5-days-week-2024-9">five-day RTO policy</a> will have to decide: Am I going to return to the office five days per week as required, or am I not?<h2 id="1e6a75e7-2928-421f-b032-7e66cdd4c43c">Here are the steps I'd take if a client came to me about their company switching to a five-day RTO policy:</h2><h3 id="55023514-e6e1-4d10-84ad-451fcd33d232">1. Look at your employment contract</h3>First, I would look at their employment agreement to see whether it was represented to them that they could work hybrid or remote. Although the company can change their policy, the employee could go back to their supervisor and say, "Hey, our agreement was that I'm going to be working remote or hybrid."Well-written employment agreements will include a clause providing the employer with the flexibility the amend any and all terms. But if you have some leverage, you can <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-i-negotiated-flexible-work-schedule-with-my-boss-2020-12">negotiate into your employment agreement</a> that you're going to be working remote or hybrid.The typical 9-to-5 hourly minimum wage employee doesn't have a ton of leverage, but the higher up you get, you can negotiate for that. We saw that recently with the new Starbucks CEO, who will be mainly <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-ceo-wont-tell-employees-days-to-work-in-office-2024-9">working remotely from Newport Beach</a> rather than relocating to Seattle.<h3 id="e21df687-b0ea-41e1-a5cf-b63acd72da93">2. Consider your legal protections</h3>Next, I would help them assess if there are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/employee-return-to-office-mandates-no-legal-recourse-employer-2024-9">any legitimate legal avenues</a> to take. Do you have a disability that requires an accommodation? Are there certain leave requirements under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that you're entitled to?If employees meet the requirements of certain laws — whether it's parental leave laws, pregnancy laws, or other similar laws — then they can use those laws regardless of an RTO policy. But if they don't meet the requirements and are using that as a tool to try to defeat the RTO policy, that's a bad idea.When an employee has a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/return-to-office-mandate-doctor-prescribed-accomodation-2024-9">documented disability</a> covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the company has to deal with that employee a little bit differently. They may have a policy that says employees have to be in the office five days a week, but when an employee with a disability contacts the company and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-ask-for-health-accommodations-remote-work-flexible-hours-2022-8">requests an accommodation</a>, the employer can't simply just say no.The company needs to engage in an <a target="_blank" href="https://askjan.org/topics/interactive.cfm">interactive process</a> to assess whether it can grant the accommodation because it's reasonable, or if it'll deny it because it's an undue burden on the business.Lawsuits happen all the time involving employees who feel like their companies have violated the law by <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-worker-disability-sues-after-elon-musks-remote-work-change-2022-11">not granting a reasonable accommodation</a>. If you feel you've been discriminated against because of your disability, you can file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or with your state agency. You could also file a lawsuit in court.The plaintiff — usually the employee — would ultimately have the burden of proof, but if they can demonstrate that it's a reasonable accommodation, the company would need to set forth evidence as to why it was a burden. For example, let's say a person works in Amazon's customer service and they're on the phone the entire time. If they have a documented disability and ask to work remotely over the phone, it might be difficult for the company to prove that it's a true burden on the company to allow them to work from home doing the exact same things.Sometimes, employees' requests are unreasonable because they're going to cost a ton of money or they're just not something that a company is required to do. Ultimately, it comes down to the facts of the case.<h3 id="4789e1f1-22bc-4ed2-b3e6-8c009e611b10">3. Speak with your supervisor</h3>If you find yourself in a situation where you either have to return to the office or not — and in that case, effectively resign — and you're debating resigning, I think it makes sense to have a heart-to-heart conversation with your supervisor, explain you're fully capable of performing your duties remotely, and ask about a hybrid agreement.That may not get you very far, but if you're at that point of potentially leaving the company anyway, it doesn't hurt to try to work out some sort of agreement.<h3 id="3c876e4c-7440-4d3a-abfc-21f58c036893">4. Apply for unemployment</h3>In many instances, if the employee doesn't return to work, they'll be deemed to have abandoned their job, which can have implications for unemployment benefits: Is it a termination or is it a resignation? The company's going to say you're effectively resigning because returning to office is a duty of your job.Each state has different rules and laws around unemployment, and you can run the risk of potentially not getting unemployment benefits if you've resigned from the job because you haven't returned to the office.Still, I would recommend that you <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-file-for-unemployment-benefits-2020-3">apply for unemployment benefits</a> because other than your time, there isn't a lot to lose — you're either denied or approved. It really depends on the state you're in and who's assessing your claim, but I don't think it hurts to apply.<h2 id="cf51b9c0-dcd6-4910-bda5-dacd99bf110a">The shift back to in-office work may have an interesting outcome</h2>I wouldn't be surprised if, in one to two years, we see more in-office work. Companies that are mandating five days a week will inevitably result in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rto-amazon-relocate-remote-work2024-8">a lot of employees leaving</a> because they just don't want to do that.It'll be interesting to see what the outcome of this will be. There'll be a subsection of these employees that find remote work, but beyond that, I think it'll result in more entrepreneurs and people doing social media because if these employees can't find <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/return-to-office-hybrid-work-model-quit-jobs-2023-8">the remote lifestyle</a> that they want, they're going to just create their own business opportunities.If your company implemented a return-to-office policy and you'd like to share your experience, email Jane Zhang at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:janezhang@businessinsider.com">janezhang@businessinsider.com</a>.

4 steps workers should take when their companies announce 5-day RTO, according to an employment lawyer

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Airport workers in Phoenix, Charlotte describe dangerous conditions during extreme heat.</li><li>They joined fast-food and farm workers this week in demanding employers provide water, AC, and rest.</li></ul>Cecilia Ortiz walks 10 to 15 miles a day for her job at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, pushing people in wheelchairs to their gates and carrying luggage.She loves her job, but it comes with risks, especially when temperatures reach triple digits for months in Phoenix. Ortiz said she sweats through her thick polyester uniform on jet bridges that aren't always air-conditioned. Access to cold water and rest breaks aren't guaranteed. Some of her colleagues who clean airplane cabins, transport luggage on the tarmac, or work as curbside agents have reported dizziness, nausea, and vomiting on the job — symptoms of heat exhaustion.Ortiz this week is joining workers in the airline, fast-food, and farming sectors in 13 cities to demand that employers provide education and training about the symptoms of heat exhaustion, develop a plan of action for getting employees medical attention, and ensure that employees have access to water, shade, air conditioning, and rest breaks. On Tuesday there were demonstrations at airports in Phoenix and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.qcnews.com/charlotte/service-workers-at-charlotte-airport-protest-for-heat-protection/">Charlotte, North Carolina</a>, and on Thursday workers plan to take a coordinated drink of water and share it across social media. Several labor unions are organizing the actions.Scorching heat is becoming more common in the US and around the world. Scientists have found that the climate crisis is causing more frequent, intense, and longer-lasting heat waves. Federal data indicates that each year <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2023/36-work-related-deaths-due-to-environmental-heat-exposure-in-2021.htm">dozens of workers in the US die from heat exposure</a>. This summer, a sanitation worker for the city of Baltimore died from hyperthermia, or overheating, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating <a target="_blank" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/07/15/usps-worker-heat-stroke-death-wendy-johnson/74414304007/">whether a postal worker's death in North Carolina was related to the heat</a>.There are no national standards to protect indoor and outdoor workers. The Biden administration in July <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bidens-heat-standards-workers-water-shade-rest-2024-7">proposed rules for employers with workers exposed to temperatures of 80 degrees Fahrenheit</a> or higher, but it could be years before they take effect. The rules could also be scrapped if former President Donald Trump wins the election in November.Some states and cities have enacted their own policies, including California and Phoenix. This fall Maryland is expected to become the sixth state to adopt heat protections for workers. Meanwhile, Florida and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-extreme-heat-construction-crews-lose-breaks-water-2023-6">Texas have blocked such protections</a> at the local level.The Phoenix City Council in April unanimously passed an ordinance requiring all city contractors and subcontractors to develop heat-safety plans for outdoor workers, including at construction sites and airports. The ordinance also requires access to rest, shade, water, and air conditioning. By 2025, closed-cab vehicles, like those that move airport baggage, must have AC.Ortiz described the ordinance as a big win but said she still hadn't seen her employer, Prospect Airport Services, make changes. The company has more than 8,500 employees at 26 airports around the US and has contracts with airlines to provide passenger services, baggage handlers, and gate agents."The ordinance took effect in April, and we're in August now, still fighting for our basic human rights to a break and water," Ortiz said.She and other airport contract workers tried to deliver a copy of the Phoenix ordinance to their supervisor on Tuesday, but he wouldn't leave his office, Ortiz said. Last August, Ortiz and 10 other employees filed a complaint with Arizona's occupational-safety authorities, who opened an investigation and conducted an on-site inspection, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/09/06/phoenix-excessive-heat-airport-workers/">The Washington Post reported</a>. A spokesman for the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health told Business Insider they could not immediately provide information about that investigation.Unifi Aviation, the parent company of Prospect Airport Services, told BI in a statement that it had a heat-illness-prevention program that takes effect when temperatures exceed 80 degrees, adding that managers are encouraged to continuously check for signs of heat stress or illness among employees."All outdoor workers are provided with extra breaks, quick access to unlimited water, Gatorade, cooling towels and popsicles," the company said. "When possible, misting stations are also set up at the airports in partnership with airport or airline officials. Employees are also told not to sit or loiter in jet bridges for their own safety and that of those around them."In California, farm workers are especially vulnerable to extreme heat. Lourdes Cardenas is a farm worker who lives in Fresno, California, where it has reached upward of 105 degrees Fahrenheit this summer. She said even though the state has a heat protection law, companies don't always follow it. Last summer, while working in tomato fields without shade, she had a headache and vomited. She had to drive herself home to rest."Many workers don't say anything when they feel bad because they are afraid they will be fired, or because they earn so little that they feel they have to take risks to get a paycheck," Cardenas said during a press conference on Monday hosted by labor unions, including United Farm Workers.Fast-food workers at Waffle House and Starbucks told BI that AC units at some locations were broken for weeks last summer, causing the restaurants to be hotter than 80 degrees."We know that the planet is getting hotter and hotter every year, and we're seeing skyrocketing conditions for workers that people may not always think of when they think about the heat," said April Verrett, the president of the Service Employees International Union, which is helping organize this week's rallies. "Folks on jet bridges or in the kitchen, where temperatures can exceed 110 degrees — they're making these demands that it's time for employers to act now."

Airport, farm, and fast-food workers rally for better heat protections

This article is part of "<a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/workforce-innovation">Workforce Innovation</a>," a series exploring the forces shaping enterprise transformation.After a full day of seeing patients, Missy Scalise used to spend hours at home fleshing out the notes that go into medical records.Then, about a year ago, Scalise, an internal-medicine physician with Ascension Saint Thomas in Nashville, started using Suki, an artificial-intelligence tool that generates notes and other data based on her patient conversations."What used to take me two to four hours per full day of clinic now takes me about 30 minutes or so, at most," she told Business Insider.Having <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/doctor-burnout-ai-assistant-help-paperwork-administrative-tasks-2023-8">AI working in the background </a>to document what goes on in the exam room has given her more leeway to focus on patients, Scalise said. Several have told her that she seems more present, she added.Part of Scalise's role is chairing a committee on clinician well-being. A couple of years ago, AI wasn't on her radar. Now, she's pushing to get more colleagues to start using the technology to help boost their efficiency.That highlights an important reality: AI will likely change some aspects of nearly all jobs. To keep up, workers will have to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-older-workers-better-than-younger-could-help-hiring-2024-8">add skills and learn</a> as never before, and that will require employers' help.<div type="image" title="Missy Scalise sits with her sons" height="428" width="640" msid="112873678" hostid="261" sizebytes="25154"></div>The breadth of the change to come seems profound. In January, the International Monetary Fund predicted that AI could affect nearly four in 10 jobs globally. For advanced economies, the share of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Staff-Discussion-Notes/Issues/2024/01/14/Gen-AI-Artificial-Intelligence-and-the-Future-of-Work-542379?cid=bl-com-SDNEA2024001">jobs exposed to AI</a> rose to about six in 10 — about half of the latter in a negative way.In 2023, the World Economic Forum reported that employers expected <a target="_blank" href="https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2023/digest/#:~:text=All%20but%20two%20technologies%20are,in%20the%20next%20five%20years.">44% of workers' skills</a> to be "disrupted" within five years.It all points to a workforce that will need <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/to-find-or-keep-a-job-become-a-specialist-2024-8">widespread retraining</a>.Ravin Jesuthasan, a coauthor of "The Skills-Powered Organization" and the global leader for transformation services at the consulting firm Mercer, told BI that chief human-resources officers and other leaders would need to think of training — particularly around AI — as something that's just as important as, for example, building a factory."Everyone needs to be really facile with AI," he said. "It's a nonnegotiable because every piece of work is going to be affected."Jesuthasan said that when he talks about AI's widespread reach, he often gets questions like, "Well, what about the plumber who came to my house?"Plumbers, he said, might spend 30 minutes of every few hours turning a wrench. Much of the remainder goes to things like scheduling appointments and understanding the setups of customers' fixtures and piping. AI can help with all that, Jesuthasan said.He said experimenting with AI was a good start but not a viable long-term strategy. More organizations are becoming deliberate in how they invest, he added. That might look like identifying well-defined areas where they will deploy AI so that everyone involved uses the technology.That's part of a mindset of continual learning and reinvention. Without that, he said, both the organization and its workers risk falling behind.Ultimately, Jesuthasan said, organizations should test and learn so that they can be judicious in how they deploy AI and see a return. This shift will require that leaders focus more on skills and less on the strictures of a particular job.It's a big shift."We're talking about the reversal of 140 years of learned behavior and organizational structure and processes to shift from jobs to skills as the currency for work," he said. "You can't eat the elephant in one bite."Jon Lester, the vice president of HR technology, data, and AI at IBM, told BI that business leaders should give experts in various parts of their organizations the time and space to learn what's possible — and to fail. He also said leaders should track the return on investment of their efforts and let their expert employees make decisions.Lester said it's insufficient to drop in the technology without giving other considerations."If we gave this technology without the learning, without the focus on process and experience, we just automated bad processes," he said.Another challenge with inserting AI into an organization is that it's often difficult to tell which skills workers possess and where they might need training.Asteri AI is a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/healthcare-ai-startup-valuations-explode-after-downturn-2024-4">startup</a> that uses large language models to determine the skill levels of an employee base, identify gaps, and forecast what abilities might one day be needed.Julia Grace Samoylenko, Asteri's founder and CEO, told BI that skills are often hidden and difficult to capture and that they tend to change rapidly."We truly believe that AI is the key to solving this problem," she said.It's important for organizations to understand the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-questions-consulting-firms-are-answering-for-clients-2024-6">capabilities of their workers</a>, in part, because it's not advisable — or even possible, in many cases — for <a target="_blank" class="" href=" https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-help-recruit-hire-employees-tech-women-bias-job-seeking-2024-1">employers to hire</a> their way out of a skills deficit, Samoylenko said. That can be especially the case with high-demand areas like AI."We strongly believe in the idea of investing in internal talent rather than bringing in external hires," she said.Aside from concerns about maintaining morale and institutional knowledge, training existing employees can also be easier on the budget. That's because the cost of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/247391/fixable-problem-costs-businesses-trillion.aspx">replacing an employee</a> is, conservatively, half to two times the worker's annual salary, Gallup found.Major employers like Johnson &amp; Johnson are also using what's sometimes called "<a target="_blank" href="https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/how-companies-can-use-ai-to-find-and-close-skills-gaps">skills inference</a>" to get a snapshot of workers' skills and how they might be improved.<div type="image" title="54% of HR and talent acquisition leaders say they are hopeful about the potential impact of AI at work." height="1000" width="2000" msid="112873681" hostid="261" sizebytes="40548"></div>For employers that want to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-tackling-jobs-humans-dont-have-time-for-or-want-2024-2">train their workers</a>, an obvious challenge is making sure it's effective.Elise Smith, a cofounder and the CEO of Praxis Labs, told BI that AI could make learning more personalized. The company uses the technology to simulate various work situations. That might involve giving difficult feedback or managing someone who's being disruptive to a team, she said.Praxis Labs is focused on middle managers and potential strong performers because, Smith said, training on these types of interpersonal skills is often concentrated among C-suite leaders."They often have executive coaches," she said. "They're doing role-plays. They're getting coaching on how to navigate these moments all the time." By using AI, Smith said, that type of training can be scaled to reach more workers.Managers can give oral or written feedback in simulations, and the AI can interject to point out slipups."Midconversation, if you haven't asked an open-ended question, we might nudge you to do that because you may not fully understand the situation," she said. "And asking questions is a powerful skill."Smith said the benefits of training could extend beyond the knowledge itself. She said clients had reported managers and employees feeling more engaged. And if the training is successful, it's more likely to stick, Smith added."You're more likely to change your behavior when you're confident about what you've just practiced and that skill you've just built," she said.Organizations are also looking to use <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-career-advice-coach-gen-z-workers-get-ahead-2024-2">AI to empower workers</a> in other ways.Nathalie Scardino, Salesforce's chief people officer, told BI that the company's philosophy is that having AI tools at hand helps workers learn and improve their skills because the tech becomes incorporated into their daily workflow."You're bringing them along in the continued learning experience," she said.Salesforce has pumped out more than 50 AI applications to help its workers do their jobs in new ways, Scardino said. The goal is to make sure workers continue to learn and experiment."Everyone should be able to work with AI and understand the use cases behind the advantages of working with AI," she said.Charlotte Relyea, a senior partner at McKinsey &amp; Co., believes that leaders need to plan now so they can better forecast the abilities workers will need. Given the importance of this task, she said, the process will likely involve not only the head of HR but also the CEO."It's going to require real investment in upskilling and reskilling," she told BI. "So organizations need to be prepared for that."Relyea said leaders should prioritize where they focus most of their efforts on building skills. So it's probably more worth it to train a team with low turnover than one that's always seeing new faces.Leaders need to think about this as a transformation — what she described as "painting the picture of the future."In a recent <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/gen-ais-next-inflection-point-from-employee-experimentation-to-organizational-transformation">McKinsey survey</a>, nine in 10 workers said AI tools could improve their work experience. And, often, workers reported incorporating AI into their work faster than their employers."How do you actually harness some of the energy that employees are putting into using gen AI?" Relyea said.She said employers should consider how they could create ways for workers to share ideas and make testing and learning part of the culture.Scalise, the doctor in Nashville, believes that AI tools like the one she's using will be the future of medicine. She's pushing to give the internal-medicine residents she oversees access to the technology as well so that they don't get burned out by administrative tasks and can better focus on patients' needs. She said in the 18 years she's been a doctor, no other tool has changed her practice to this degree."I didn't know it would be this groundbreaking," Scalise said. "I'm ecstatic that it's been so effective."

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