AI on Everyone’s Lips, But Are We Asking the Right Questions?

By Lydik Grynfeltt, Director, HR Bridge Consulting

Everywhere I go these days - whether I'm glued to the news in the evening, scanning headlines on my phone, having a heated debate at work, or just chatting with friends at the local pub over a pint - the conversation inevitably turns to artificial intelligence. The buzzword “AI” is everywhere. Politicians invoke it to promise technological revolutions, CEOs use it to forecast profits and transformation, and everyday folks talk in awe or anxiety about the coming tide of automation.

Yet as I listen, I notice that for every bold claim about what AI could do, there’s still a deep uncertainty about what it should do, and how it might actually work for us - not just to us. The world is racing to adopt the next tool, the next chatbot, the next system that will supposedly make everything easier, faster, smarter - sometimes cheaper, sometimes supposedly “better.” But when the hype subsides, most people are left wondering: How is AI really changing our workplaces, our businesses, and the lives of actual people?

Recently, I watched a compelling YouTube video titled “Why Replacing Humans with AI is a Disaster”, produced by the insightful analyst MacKard (YouTube link: https://youtu.be/uyaaHVnUHOs). It’s the kind of exposé that doesn’t just speculate - it digs into the numbers, the stories, and the sometimes disastrous real-world results of AI projects rolled out by major companies in the past year.

The Data Nobody Wants to Read Aloud

The sobering headline is this: Over 90% of AI projects fail to deliver measurable value. That’s not just a glitch - it’s a systemic problem. According to a recent MIT report, while business leaders scramble to automate and digitise, only about 5-7% of these initiatives show clear returns. The rest? They end up being regretted - and often reversed.

Take McDonald’s, which tried to revolutionise its drive-throughs with AI only to be met with fiascoes: orders with bacon in ice cream, $200 in chicken nuggets mistakenly added to bills, and so much confusion that the project was eventually scrapped. Klarna and Duolingo cut thousands of jobs in hopes that chatbots and algorithms could fill the gaps, but the result was longer problem-resolution times, soaring complaint rates, and - after months of customer hemorrhage - the quiet rehiring of human staff.

Even iconic names like Tesla faced costly setbacks. The company nearly drove itself into crisis by relying on robots that broke down multiple times a day - Elon Musk himself eventually declared, "Humans are underrated."

What Made These AI Projects Go Wrong?

If you ask executives, they’ll often cite “technology not being ready,” but that isn’t the whole truth. As the video and recent surveys reveal, the root causes of failure are remarkably human:

• Rushed implementation: Companies are pressured to “go AI” by investors and the market. In their haste, they deploy systems without proper planning, testing, or staff training.

• Poor data and oversight: As the cliche goes, “garbage in, garbage out.” Faulty or incomplete data, lack of quality control, and opaque processes guarantee unreliable output - and public embarrassment.

• Missing the human factor: When AI is treated as a plug-and-play substitute for people, quality nosedives. Machines can’t read context, nuance, or emotion.

• Investor hype and “AI washing”: Mentioning AI in earnings calls does wonders for short-term stock prices, even when there isn’t any real improvement. This pressure to seem “innovative” often outweighs the goal of actually being useful.

• No workforce strategy: Workers, feeling replaceable or simply uninvolved, lose morale. The result: higher turnover (up to 22% in firms with poor AI rollouts), rising recruitment costs, and a climate of distrust.

What Can Businesses (and HR Professionals) Learn?

As HR Bridge Consulting advocates, the lessons from MacKard’s video are clear and actionable. “AI itself is not the problem - it’s how we implement it.”

Companies that have succeeded with AI are those that:

• Integrate slowly and deliberately - focusing first on augmenting, not replacing, their human talent.

• Invest in training - equipping teams to understand and use AI tools effectively, rather than dropping bots in and expecting miracles.

• Select proven vendor solutions over risky in-house experiments - these are up to twice as likely to succeed.

• Keep human oversight at the center - using AI for tasks that benefit from speed and consistency, but letting people make judgment calls and handle complex or sensitive cases.

Great examples come from organisations like Unity and Hisco. Unity used AI for customer support ticket triaging - saving $1.3 million a year and freeing up its agents for nuanced tasks. Hisco’s claims processing went from one hour down to 10 minutes (across 14 countries), thanks to AI automation that supported, not supplanted, their human handlers.

HR Bridge Consulting’s “People-First” Pathway to AI Success

From the pub to the boardroom, the message is the same: AI needs to be a tool that works with us. HR Bridge Consulting’s approach prioritises careful change management, honest communication with staff, and ongoing investment in skills and oversight.

We recommend:

• Put AI at the top of the Management Committee agenda: Ensure AI is not a side project but a priority, subject to rigorous oversight, discussion, and tracking by the highest decision-makers.

• Gather your top managers in a regular R&D forum dedicated to AI: Create ongoing spaces to discover, evaluate, and challenge new AI technologies and their potential for your company’s real needs and operations.

• Start with pilot projects: Test AI in controlled settings before rolling out at scale.

• Focus on augmentation: Let AI handle repetitive, time-intensive chores - while people do the thinking, connecting, and strategising.

• Include employees in decision-making: Get input from staff at every stage to ensure systems solve real-world problems.

• Monitor and adapt: Use feedback, data tracking, and regular audits to measure impact and tune AI solutions.

A Future That Works - With People

AI will change work as we know it, but whether it’s a disaster or a triumph depends on how we lead, plan, and include our teams. As the MacKard investigation showed, “success comes from proper implementation, not blind automation.” At HR Bridge Consulting, we believe that human ingenuity, compassion, and adaptability are the keys to making technology deliver - not just for shareholders, but for everyone.

So next time you hear someone at the office, in the headlines, or at the pub say they’re worried about robots taking over, remember: It’s not the robots we need to fear - it’s bad decisions and lost opportunities to build systems that serve people, not just profits. Let’s get AI right!

At HR Bridge Consulting, we specialise in navigating the complex intersection of international employment law, project management, AI and new technology deployments and stakeholder coordination for international groups, private equity firms, investment funds, and family offices. Because in transformation, as in life, preparation beats improvisation every single time.