‘Digital employees’ | HR org Lattice scraps plans to give AI agents worker equivalency after industry backlash

HR tech company Lattice announced last week it made “AI history” by becoming the first platform to give digital workers official employee records, before scrapping the plan after backlash from HR and tech professionals.

The people management platform proposed a development on July 9 that would allow AI agents to be treated as employees on its software, integrating them into the company’s organizational chart.

"The conversation around digital workers has been theoretical – until now. The AI workforce is here, and Lattice believes that we need to fully understand what it looks like to integrate AI employees into the workforce to make sure we create transparent, responsible practices around hiring AI," said Sarah Franklin, CEO of Lattice, in an initial statement outlining the move.

"That's why we want to be the first to bring an AI employee through all the same steps as a human one – onboarding, goal setting, receiving feedback – to uncover the challenges we'll face with the AI workforce, and start to come up with practical solutions for our customers."