Can HR adapt to the paradoxes of artificial intelligence?
Open accessAbstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) is widely heralded as a new and revolutionary technology that will transform the world of work. While the impact of AI on human resource (HR) and people management is difficult to predict, the article considers potential scenarios for how AI will affect our field. We argue that although popular accounts of AI stress the risks of bias and unfairness, these problems are eminently solvable. However, the way that the AI industry is currently constituted and wider trends in the use of technology for organising work mean that there is a significant risk that AI use will degrade the quality of work. Viewing different scenarios through a paradox lens, we argue that both positive and negative visions of the future are likely to coexist. The HR profession has a degree of agency to shape the future if it chooses to use it; HR professionals need to develop the skills to ensure that ethics and fairness are at the centre of AI development for HR and people management.
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Existing theories may not account for the subtle complexities involved in developing and implementing GAI strategies that are both sustainable and integrative.
“the existing theories may not account for the subtle complexities involved in developing and implementing GAI strategies that are both sustainable and integrative (Charlwood and Guenole, 2022).”
From Generative Artificial Intelligence in Business: Towards a Strategic Human Resource Management Framework (2024) · cites this paper as Charlwood and Guenole, 2022
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“These concerns reflect broader insider critiques of the technology industry, which argue that AI developers are overly focussed on technical and commercial priorities and neglect the ethical and societal impact of their work (Birhane, 2021; Crawford, 2021; Whittaker, 2021).”
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“…this information to make or recommend decisions such as which staff to employ, where and when, who to promote into which role, and which staff to award pay rises to in order to optimise motivation and retention (Angrave et al., 2016; Charlwood, 2021; Guenole & Feinzig, 2019; Kellogg et al., 2020).”
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“However, Charlwood and Guenole (2022) argue that AI may take over decisions which could reduce the sense of choice and control of users.”
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- Authors
- Charlwood, A., & Guenole, N.
- Affiliations
- University of Leeds (GB)
- Goldsmiths University of London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Charlwood, Andy
- Venue
- Human Resource Management Journal
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2022-01-07
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 729-742
- ISSN
- 0954-5395 (ISSN-L)
- 1748-8583
- OpenAlex
- W4206346145
- Cited by
- 271
- References
- 15
- Citations by year
- 2026: 67 · 2025: 79 · 2024: 62 · 2023: 47 · 2022: 16
- FWCI
- 48.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Human Resource Management Journal (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Goldsmiths (University of London) (acceptedVersion)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Economic and Social Research Council (ES/S012532/1)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › AI and HR Technologies
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Impact of AI and Big Data on Business and Society
- Keywords
- artificial intelligence, human resource management, personnel management, paradox theory, future scenarios, algorithmic bias, fairness, quality of work, AI ethics
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