Employers ‘still playing catch-up’ on AI risk management, Littler report finds - HR Dive

Ah, the classic 'playing catch-up' — the corporate equivalent of showing up to a fire with a bucket of sand and declaring progress because at least you're not using your hands. Littler's report tells us that 68% of employers now have formal AI governance policies, up from 38% last year. A 30-point jump sounds impressive until you realise that nearly a third of employers still have no formal guardrails whatsoever for the technology they're presumably already using to screen, fire, or monitor people. But sure, 'playing catch-up' is the polite way to say 'we've collectively decided to strap a rocket to a tricycle and hope for the best.'

That 68% figure is doing a lot of heavy lifting. What exactly constitutes a 'formal AI governance policy'? In many cases, it's probably a PDF written by the legal intern last Tuesday, covering 'transparency' and 'fairness' in the way a greasy spoon menu covers 'gourmet cuisine.' Niloy Ray, Littler's attorney, delivered the report's thesis with the weary tone of someone who's seen this movie before: employers are still behind.

The real kicker? The report doesn't even pretend the problem is solved. It's a status check, not a victory lap. The message is clear: we're still in the 'putting out fires with spreadsheets' phase of AI governance. And as long as the definition of a 'formal policy' remains vague enough to include a single slide titled 'AI: Be Nice,' we'll be playing catch-up until the robots themselves can draft our compliance documents. Which, given the speed of progress, might be next Tuesday.