Tension when AI is introduced in HR work

Personnel work, also known as Human Resources (HR), involves working at the intersection of management, middle managers, employees, and trade unions. HR, like other types of knowledge work, has historically relied on human intelligence in the shape of complex problem-solving, interpersonal communication, and negotiation. Today however, artificial intelligence (AI) is said to be able to streamline and complement HR processes throughout the entire employee employment journey; from recruitment, selection, employee surveys, development and distribution of training material, to follow-up during termination, etc., which may fundamentally change HR work and the relevance of HR departments.

A historical challenge for HR has been to legitimise the relevance of their own work in organisations. Some people believe that this is because, in many organisations, HR has not been represented in the management team and therefore lacked arenas for influence, which is why their legitimacy in the organisation has suffered. Others think that HR departments have historically been criticised for being too bureaucratic and therefore do not contribute enough to the efficiency of the organisation. But as AI is currently on its way to changing the role of HR in terms of influence and efficiency, there is now a chance to shape the conversation about its relevance. The question is what does this conversation look like now?

To find out how the HR profession explains its role concerning AI, we conducted a systematic mapping of articles in 2023 in the five largest trade journals that target HR employees in Sweden. After an analysis of the articles, published between 2018 and 2023, there are in principle two tensions in the conversations with readers:

• The first tension is based on a message about the need for objective HR processes, but how objectivity should be achieved is written in two interchangeably conflicting ways. Objectivity is described on the one hand as something that can only be achieved by artificial intelligence but is impossible for human intelligence because humans cannot disregard their own experiences and prejudices. On the other hand, objectivity is described as something that only human intelligence can achieve because humans have a conscience and can handle complexity, while artificial intelligence, without the ability to question and reflect, risks generating discriminatory results due to bias in performance data or bias built into the algorithms.
• The second tension involves how HR employees should relate to AI to continue to stay relevant in their profession. Here the message is also contradictory. On the one hand, to stay relevant, the HR employee needs to safeguard human intelligence in the organisation and not naively accept that artificial intelligence will take over work duties and processes; the relevant HR employee is sceptical towards AI. On the other hand, the message is repeated that the HR employee's continued relevance in the profession depends on their ability to stay at the forefront. The message is that the relevant HR employee needs to be fearless and embrace what is new and lead the way for change.

It may seem harmless to have conflicting messages in trade journals. Nothing in life is clear-cut, and especially not that which is new and unknown. However, the introduction of artificial intelligence requires defining what human intelligence is, and what it means for human presence in central organisational processes when artificial intelligence takes over work that was previously done by people. Without having a conversation about what benefit we want to derive from human intelligence in a time when artificial intelligence is increasingly taking over the work that is done, we risk fear and resistance. In this context, fear may be about the expectation that the content of one's own work will deteriorate, that work duties or the entire professional role will be taken over by AI. To avoid fear, and ultimately resistance to change, we need clarity regarding the role HR employees must play in organisations in the future. However, such clarity is still lacking and therefore we want to encourage HR departments on the verge of introducing AI tools to be available to have conversations about the importance of human intelligence and the importance of a shared approach that balances caution and openness to change. Only then can we create confident HR departments that can challenge fear and lead organisational change.

For any questions/comments, kindly email digma@mdu.se