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Over the past few months, I have had the distinct pleasure of reliving my kids鈥� love of Harry Potter through the ears (audiobooks) and eyes (movies, after we finish a book). While they are captivated by the schools, magic and characters, they are most captivated by the potential. For so long, their shows (鈥淭he Creature Cases,鈥� 鈥淏luey,鈥� or 鈥淭rash Truck鈥�) followed a linear path of joy. But with Harry Potter, anything is possible (my wife has told me they are WAY too young for 鈥淕ame of Thrones鈥�). The sense of the unknown, both good and bad, is how many employers feel about AI. So, consider this my Quirrell moment: 鈥淭roll 鈥� in the dungeons 鈥� thought you ought to know.鈥澛燨utlined below are three use cases for AI in the workplace and the associated pros/cons.

Employee retention

Pros: Employers can use AI-driven information obtained during exit interviews, performance reviews or day-to-day meetings to help proactively identify the factors that contribute to resignations. By analyzing variables such as timing of pay increases, training opportunities, promotions, management changes, and employee engagement patterns, companies can better understand what drives turnover. Companies can use these predictive models to assess an employee鈥檚 risk of departure and enable timely, proactive intervention.

Cons: AI-driven retention tools present several risks, including false positives and embedded bias, and may overlook important human nuances. They also raise significant privacy and security concerns, as large volumes of sensitive employee data must be collected, stored, and often shared with third-party vendors, increasing both trust and cybersecurity risks. Additionally, as I have flagged in past updates, litigation is cropping up when companies use AI in hiring decisions. Letting AI make a retention decision without meaningful human oversight can expose companies to lawsuits.

Performance reviews

Pros: The biggest 鈥減ro鈥� is that a performance review or write-up exists. There is real exposure in the workplace when supervisors fail to document issues or when supervisors fail to provide meaningful feedback. Using AI for performance reviews and disciplinary write-ups can promote consistency, reduce administrative burden, and identify performance trends across teams using objective data.

Cons: Overreliance on AI may overlook context, embed bias from historical data, raise privacy concerns, and be only as good as the data that supervisors actually include. (What good is a performance review if a supervisor fails to document verbal warnings?) Like all things in AI, risk exists when automated assessments influence employment decisions without meaningful human oversight.

Job advancement

Pros: AI-driven career management can broaden internal mobility by identifying transferable skills, creating data-informed career pathways, and surfacing talent from nontraditional backgrounds who might otherwise be (by the company or themselves) overlooked.

Cons: These systems rely heavily on historical workforce data that may embed bias, misinterpret skills without proper context, and create legal or employee relations risks if predictive models influence promotion decisions without transparent standards and human oversight.

Like magic at Hogwarts, AI in the workplace holds remarkable promise 鈥� but only if approached with wisdom, guardrails, and a steady hand on the wand. Employers who acknowledge both the wonder and the risk can harness its power thoughtfully, rather than react to it in fear. Just as Harry and Ron didn鈥檛 defeat the troll with theory but with action and human instinct, AI works best when guided by active human oversight 鈥� not left to swing the club on its own.

Stephen Scott is a partner in the Portland office of Fisher Phillips, a national firm dedicated to representing employers鈥� interests in all aspects of workplace law. Contact him at 503-205-8094 or [email protected].

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91视频 guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.