The role of AI in global onboarding

By John Son, Global Marketing Manager of DeepBrain AI

The number of companies hiring remote workers has increased significantly since the pandemic. Now, nearly 14% of all employed adults in the United States work remotely, which is roughly double the percentage from before the pandemic. This shift has also prompted companies to hire more staff members globally: 86% of companies are hiring across borders, in part to reduce labor costs. 

However, this shift to hiring abroad presents some challenges, most notably language and cultural barriers, which affect everything from onboarding to daily operations. Left unaddressed, these barriers can lead to cultural problems and increased turnover. If your foreign and immigrant employees don’t feel supported and understood, or if they can’t access the information necessary to complete their tasks, you risk losing them. 

Fortunately, (artificial intelligence) AI can help here. In particular, generative AI (GenAI) systems like ChatGPT have become highly valuable tools for bridging cultural and language gaps and making it easier to engage with a global workforce.

AI avatars and globalization

One particular aspect of AI that companies are finding useful in onboarding and ongoing communication is AI avatars. Produced by generative AI, these avatars can facilitate the process of bringing international workers on board. What’s more, with the integration of large language models (LLMs) like GPT-4 and Meta’s Llama 3, the avatars can operate in multiple languages. ChatGPT, for example, supports at least 58 languages.

Beyond language, AI avatars can also provide cultural and ethnic representation. Companies can create regionalized avatars, customized in both language and appearance, to support employee training and interaction across different countries. For instance, during onboarding, a company can use an AI avatar to conduct a welcome session in the local language, incorporating gestures, expressions, and conversational styles that resonate with the local culture. 

The avatar could explain company policies with cultural nuances in mind, such as using local examples or metaphors to illustrate key points, making the information more accessible and memorable for the new employees. Moreover, these avatars can answer questions in real-time, offering instant clarification on any doubts, thus ensuring that the onboarding process is smooth, efficient, and effective worldwide.

Another significant advantage of AI avatars is their ability to offer personalized and adaptive learning experiences. These avatars can potentially adjust the pacing and complexity of information based on the employee’s proficiency in the language, previous experience, and familiarity with the company’s industry. For instance, an avatar might provide additional context or simplified explanations for complex industry jargon to a new hire who is not a native speaker or who comes from a different professional background.

AI avatars are not limited to the initial onboarding phase; they can also serve as ongoing resources for international employees. For example, these avatars can be available to answer questions, provide updates on company policies, or even offer training modules on new software or processes on an ongoing basis. By being a consistent point of contact, AI avatars can help employees feel supported throughout their tenure rather than just during the first few weeks.

Making AI work

There are some challenges, however, that companies with AI avatars will need to address before their HR teams can use the technology to its full potential. First, there are the potential legal pitfalls that companies can face. GenAI systems have been known to sometimes demonstrate racial and ideological biases or hallucinate costly factual errors. 

Also, the actual language translations that AI performs may not always be accurate. This is particularly true in less common languages. The reason for this is simple: more training data usually means better accuracy. Since there’s less training content available in, say, Finnish than there is in U.S. English, AI tools might struggle to produce content in Finnish. 

There are ways of addressing both of these issues. The first is to hire regional managers who are familiar with the content and culture of the teams you are working with. Those managers can review onboarding content and processes that involve AI avatars to ensure that all resources are culturally sensitive and avoid bias or significant translation errors. 

Also, take particular care when using AI for smaller regions with less representation in AI training data. A generalized AI like ChatGPT may not be the best option here; instead, you may want to look into software that has been optimized for a particular language and culture. Lastly, it’s a good idea to provide ways for employees to report errors or instances of bias.

The reality of globalization

Global teams are already a reality, but not all cross-border workers are getting the support they need. However, there are tools available in the form of AI that could drastically improve the onboarding and training experience for immigrant and foreign workers. 

Companies that use those tools can benefit not only in terms of reduced labor costs, but also by improved diversity and cultural representation that will help them increase retention and eventually reach out to a wider audience of employees and customers around the world.