When technology meets people: The interplay of artificial intelligence and human resource management
Since the late 1970s, AI has demonstrated tremendous potential in improving human decision-making processes and ensuring efficiency in various business settings. With AI’s increasing acceptance as a decision-aid tool, it is set to become an integral part of nearly all the functional areas of an organization. Many AI tools (such as genetic algorithms, fuzzy sets, and artificial neural networks, to name a few) are now being used in various functional areas of organizations. One management area that has begun to leverage AI applications and has presented a diverse set of AI usage implications is Human Resource Management (HRM). AI has been successfully applied in various HRM functions such as human resource (HR) performance evaluation, employee selection, employee turnover, and employee assignment. However, prior studies suggest that the research domain of AI in HRM is relatively nascent and underdeveloped compared to other fields. Due to the expanding and diverse AI applications in HRM, the area’s academic literature is currently scattered. This study carried out a systematic literature review of 59 articles in AI — HRM literature retrieved from the Scopus database. The results show steady growth in the number of publications in recent years, indicating that the academic community has increasingly expressed interest in exploring the prospects of AI-aided decision-making in the HRM domain.
Further, results indicate that research on AI applications in HRM functions is gaining popularity, particularly within the selection and recruitment domains. This study presents the overall research profile, allowing researchers to understand the evolution and the current state of the academic literature in the AI–HRM domain. Furthermore, the study also discusses the potential AI techniques that can be employed in HRM research and addresses the practices in HRM that have already been improved using AI. The goal here was to illustrate domain success, particularly compared to conventional HR methods, and to analyze the academic literature that can pave the way for future studies. The study also formulated a unique AI-HRM concept map that may help the researchers to understand the HRM decision-making processes using AI techniques.
Moreover, this study summarizes the ethical issues concerning AI applications in HRM and provides an indicative preliminary framework for integrating ethical practices and strategies to help transition toward ethical AI. Thus, it helps researchers avoid bluntly using AI in sensitive HRM functions that deal with people and people data, resulting in potentially unintended consequences. This study also helps HR managers to understand a holistic view of privacy risks and ethical issues in AI implementation. A broader view of the ethical issues and their management will also help managers consider organizational and technological arrangements to manage these issues better. Finally, an original research agenda comprising relevant research questions are also put forward to assist further developments in the AI-HRM domain.
The above write-up is based on a recent publication by the authors that are listed below:
1.Yusra Qamar, Rakesh Kumar Agrawal, Taab Ahmad Samad, Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour. You can find the research article here.
