How This HR Company Attempted to Humanize AI Bots—and Why It Failed Miserably

In a recent blog post, Lattice CEO Sarah Franklin announced a groundbreaking move for digital workers, stating, "We will be the first to give digital workers official employee records in Lattice." This initiative aimed to ensure that digital workers would be securely onboarded, trained, assigned goals, performance metrics, appropriate systems access, and even a manager—similar to traditional employees.

However, after facing significant backlash, Lattice swiftly announced on July 12th that it would no longer pursue digital workers in its product offerings. The reactions to Franklin's announcement were notable. Hebba Youssef, chief people officer at Workweek, expressed her confusion on LinkedIn, stating, “I have questions, my biggest one: why??” Amanda Halle, an HR professional, remarked, “Based on my experience in and around AI and HR, it appears we’ve skipped several steps.” Sawyer Middeleer, chief of staff at Aomni, added, “This strategy and messaging misses the mark in a big way, and I say that as someone building an AI company.”

Franklin did acknowledge the concerns surrounding the integration of AI workers into existing processes for managing human employees. In her LinkedIn comments, she clarified, “I’m not advocating for the personification of AI.” Lattice's original vision appeared to align with trends in the industry, referencing companies like Cognition AI and Qualified that are exploring similar ideas. However, Lattice's approach backfired, particularly among stakeholders who would be most affected.

Lattice has not issued any further comments regarding the situation.