AI in HR: Real Use Cases & Pit Falls of Using Artificial Intelligence in Human Resources 2024

Is AI going to replace HR? Probably not. Will it impact it heavily? You bet it will. The use of AI in HR will only increase as time goes by and that does bring with it some serious changes.

Isn’t it crazy how we used to think that artificial intelligence was only going to impact automatable jobs and leave the creative / skill-based industries alone?

Cut to 2024 and we have AI language models and image generators running wild, having every Fortune 500 company under the sun rushing to implement anything remotely AI-related into their products in order to stay relevant.

Artificial intelligence is a brilliant field of technology and even though it has been getting a lot of attention in recent years, most of the discussion surrounding AI is muddled by tech companies trying to create hype.

Billionaires are spewing science fiction nonsense to cover some of the deep-rooted problems in their non-practice of AI ethics, and a whole lot of clickbait.

The question we are asking today is: How does AI impact the HR industry? The answer, as we will cover further in this article, is in a variety of different ways! Why don’t you scroll down a bit to find out?

What Are the Benefits of AI in HR?

AI is revolutionizing the way we do things, and the HR industry is no exception.

In recent months we’ve been enjoying a science fictionesque discourse when it comes to the discussion of AI, with people being divided into two very extreme sides of the discussion.

Advancements in AI technology are either evil practices coming for our jobs or some of the greatest achievements in human history.

While the right stance probably lies somewhere in the middle here are some of the benefits you might get from using artificial intelligence in human resources.

1. Automation of Mundane Tasks

One major benefit of using AI in HR is the automation of boring tasks. As with almost every corporate position, there are aspects of the job where we people can suddenly go: “I can train a monkey to do this.”.

Some of the most boring tasks that require non of your skills often end up taking most of your time, don’t they?

Who wants to sift through resumes and schedule interviews manually when you can use AI-powered tools to do the job? That frees up HR professionals to focus on more interesting work and strategic initiatives.

2. Data-driven Decision Making

Another awesome benefit is the ability to make data-driven decisions.

With AI-powered HR analytics software, HR professionals can get valuable insights and predictions to help them make informed decisions that benefit the company and its employees.

There are some incredibly effective HR software that already take advantage of artificial intelligence to create powerful data-driven reports and insights for their users.

3. Reducing Bias

And let’s not forget about reducing bias and increasing diversity in the workplace! While we hope that one day, this particular benefit of using AI in HR will be irrelevant in the future, today it is still rather useful.

While there are many things humans have that AI doesn’t which make us better than our robot counterparts, having biases is not one of them.

Unless we spoil their dataset, AI tools won’t have the same unconscious biases humans do.

Using AI to analyze resumes and candidate data can reduce the impact of unconscious biases and help HR teams build a more diverse and inclusive workforce.

Examples of AI Tools For HR

1. Teamflect

Teamflect is an all-in-one performance management application designed specifically for Microsoft Teams and it is a great way to take advantage of AI in HR.

Teamflect has plenty of useful modules that help users manage performance inside Microsoft Teams. However, it is Teamflect’s feedback module that makes use of Chat GPT.

Teamflect’s convenient feedback templates make asking for, giving, and receiving feedback very easy. But what happens if you receive more feedback than you can review and analyze?

Well, you simply press the “Summarize with AI” button and Teamflect uses Chat GPT to review all the feedback you received throughout a particular review period of your choosing and brings you a summary, highlighting your strong suits and areas of improvement.

More than a feedback software, Teamflect also offers a variety of other features such as:

• Employee engagement surveys
• Task management
• Goal setting and tracking
• Performance reviews
• And more!

2. Hirelogic

Hirelogic is one of the best AI-powered recruitment tools out there today! When using AI in HR, it is critical to not lose the human element.

That is precisely what Hirelogic does so well. It records online job interviews, transcribes them, and presents HUMANS with the necessary insights to make the decisions themselves.

It isn’t a robot conducting the interview or making the decisions. Using artificial intelligence in HR should be all about automating tedious and cumbersome tasks and that is exactly what Hirelogic takes care of.

3. Presentations AI

Presentations AI is another tool that demonstrates the correct applications of AI in HR.

Presentations AI creates well-designed, beautiful-looking presentation templates in a matter of seconds, saving HR professionals valuable time and energy.

Once again, it is an AI tool that doesn’t make the decisions for us.

Instead, it takes away the laborsome aspect of a responsibility that people and culture professionals have and gives them the freedom to just focus on the real meat and bones of the situation.

Use Cases of AI in HR

We decided to come up with certain scenarios in order to demonstrate the ways in which your organization can utilize artificial intelligence in its HR department. Here are some of them:

1. Resume Scanning

-Insert Generic Company Name Here- Corporation, a leading technology company, receives hundreds of resumes daily for various job openings.

The HR team is overwhelmed with the sheer volume of applications they need to review. To streamline the process, they implement an AI-powered resume-scanning system.

The system utilizes natural language processing algorithms to analyze resumes, extracting relevant information such as skills, qualifications, and experience.

As a result, the HR team now spends significantly less time on initial resume screening, allowing them to focus on more strategic tasks.

The AI system accurately identifies keywords and matches them with the job requirements, effectively shortlisting the most qualified candidates.

2. HR Analytics and Reporting

Real Business Name Conglomerate is a global conglomerate with multiple business units spread across various regions.

The HR department wants to gain deeper insights into their workforce to make data-driven decisions and improve HR practices. To achieve this, they implement an AI-driven HR analytics and reporting platform.

The AI platform integrates and analyzes vast amounts of HR data, including employee demographics, performance metrics, training records, and engagement surveys.

It provides HR professionals with comprehensive reports and interactive dashboards that offer real-time insights into key HR metrics such as turnover rates, employee engagement levels, and diversity statistics.

Equipped with these insights, the HR team can identify HR trends, patterns, and areas for improvement.

3. Employee Onboarding

Running Out Of Fake Company Names International, a fast-growing technology startup, recognizes that a smooth and engaging onboarding experience is crucial for new hires.

To ensure a seamless transition into the company, they introduce an AI-powered employee onboarding platform.

As soon as new employee accepts an offer, they receive access to the platform, which utilizes AI chatbots and automation.

The AI chatbot serves as a virtual assistant, guiding the employee through the onboarding process and answering any questions they may have.

It provides essential information such as company policies, benefits, and access to relevant resources.

Best Practices for Implementing AI in HR

1. Start Small

Rather than trying to implement AI across all HR processes at once, start with a small pilot program.

A pilot program will allow you to test the technology and identify any issues before rolling it out on a larger scale.

Plus, it will give your HR team time to get comfortable with the new tools and processes.

2. Focus on Ethical Use

It’s important to ensure that the use of AI in HR tech is ethical and fair. Be transparent about the use of AI tools with employees and candidates, and make sure that algorithms are not biased against any particular group.

There are many different AI tools that have issues with representation in their datasets. Another discussion of ethics that needs to be had is fair use.

“Generative AI” tools are currently under fire for using other people’s work in their datasets without requesting permission.

3. Invest in Training and Encourage Discussion

Implementing AI in HR requires significant investment in training for HR staff, as well as for employees who will be interacting with the technology.

You might want to invest in training on how to use the tools, how to interpret data, and how to address any issues that arise.

Encourage open discussion when it comes to the usage of AI tools in human resources or any other department.

A great way to hear people out is to conduct regular employee pulse surveys in order to get continuous feedback from your team. Here is a helpful list: Top Employee Pulse Survey Tools.

4. Combine AI with Human Interaction

While AI can be a powerful tool for HR, it’s important to remember that it can’t replace the value of human interaction.

Don’t make the mistake of having AI tools completely take over human jobs. Instead, use them to make the lives of your employees easier.

Your employees, customers, and prospective employees would much rather interact with a human, than with an algorithm.

Make sure that you maintain a balance between the use of AI tools and the involvement of HR staff in the hiring and employment process.

5. Continuously Evaluate and Improve

It’s important to continuously evaluate the effectiveness of the AI tools in your HR processes, and make changes as needed.

Collect feedback from employees and candidates, monitor the data that is being generated, and use this information to make informed decisions about how to improve the use of artificial intelligence in human resources.

Pit Falls of Using AI in HR

AI language models, alongside generative/imitative ai technology, are the reason the discussion of AI has gained such popularity in recent times.

Tools like Chat GPT, Writersonic, or other AI-based language models and chatbots, may seem like they would be great for people and culture departments around the world… Right?

1. Stochastic Parrots are Pretty Dangerous

To answer that question more effectively, let’s turn to one of the most important pieces of literature written on AI ethics: On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big? (2021) by Emily M. Bender, Timnit Gebru, Angelina McMillan-Major, and Margaret Mitchell.

A key part of that paper that we can relate to the use of AI in HR is where it discusses how we humans are language-based creatures.

Where we see language, we feel the need to associate it with some sort of intelligence and emotion. When we are having a discussion with with an AI language model on the other hand all we are talking with a system that’s for:

“…haphazardly stitching together sequences of linguistic forms it has observed in its vast training data, according to probabilistic information about how they combine, but without any reference to meaning: a stochastic parrot.”

2. A Lack of Context

While AI algorithms are great at processing large amounts of data quickly and efficiently, they may not always be able to grasp the nuances of a situation or understand the context in which data was generated.

This will more than likely lead to incorrect assumptions or conclusions, which in turn can lead to poor decision-making.

For example, an AI algorithm may flag a candidate as unsuitable for a particular role based on certain keywords in their resume, without considering other factors such as their experience or soft skills.

A lack of contextual understanding can result in missed opportunities for highly qualified candidates, or conversely, the hiring of unsuitable candidates.

3. No Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is one of the most important parts of HR tasks such as interviewing, providing feedback, and resolving conflicts.

It involves the ability to empathize, understand non-verbal cues, and communicate effectively.

Now technically, if we were to go a bit more into the realm of science fiction, you could potentially train an AI tool to pick up on those cues and signs to communicate effectively.

That being said, will the candidates being interviewed elicit the same signs they do towards humans towards their robot interviewers? We think not.

Frequently Asked Questions About AI in HR?