WP StateofArtificialIntelligenceinHR HarbingerSystems 112717 PDF

The State
of Artificial
Intelligence
in HR
Getting up to speed
on AI in order to gain
maximum advantage
for the HR function
Sponsored by
NOVEMBER 2017
www.hr.com | 877-472-6648
The State of Artificial Intelligence in HR
Contents
Executive Summary 3
An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence 5
HR’s Knowledge and Usage of AI 6
The Features HR Pros Want Most from AI 9
AI in HR Today and Tomorrow 13
The Role of AI in Automation and Augmentation 15
Drilling Down into Talent Acquisition 20
The Conflicted HR Professional 23
Key Takeaways 24
2 www.hr.com | 877-472-6648 copyright © HR.com 2017

Executive Summary
Artificial intelligence will transform HR technologies over the next five
years, suggests new research conducted by HR.com. In the meantime, About the Survey
though, HR professionals have much to learn.
The State of Artificial
Below is an overview of some of the key findings from the study:
Intelligence in HR survey ran
• As a profession, HR is still toward the bottom of the AI learning curve. in August and September of
Very few (8%) respondents strongly agreed that they are knowledgeable 2017. It was conducted by
in this area, and only another 27% even moderately agreed. HR.com. We gathered 995
usable responses from HR
• Current usage rates are low but are expected to explode professionals and people
in coming years. Whereas only 7% of respondents say managers in virtually every
their organizations make use of AI to a high or very high degree industry vertical, with the largest
today, over five times as many (39%) say expect their organizations industry groups being services,
will be doing so in five years. That number is higher (57%) among manufacturing and computer/
respondents who consider themselves knowledgeable about AI. telecom. The participants
represent a broad cross-section
• AI has the greatest potential to enhance HR in five functional of employers by number of
areas: analytics and metrics, time and attendance, talent acquisition, employees, ranging from small
training and development (T&D), and compensation and payroll. businesses with under 50
employees to enterprises with
• The ability to analyze and predict are the AI features HR pros want
20,000+ employees.
most from AI-powered applications. The ability to personalize
is the third most desired feature.
• HR professionals expect that AI will be used more for automation than augmentation. Over
half (54%) agreed to a high or very high extent that using AI to automate various tasks will become
prevalent in their organizations over the next five years. Only 35% agreed that the augmentation
of employee abilities would become more prevalent, but AI-knowledgeablea respondents were
much more likely to foresee employee augmentation.
• HR will make use of automated AI interfaces to aid employees. Seventy-percent anticipate that
AI interfaces such as chatbots and virtual assistants will become an increasingly viable way for
employees to get real-time answers to their HR-related questions.
• Your next boss may be an AI. Employees will increasingly take direction from AIs, according to
53% of respondents, whereas only 13% said this wouldn’t happen.
• More respondents predict job losses than job gains as a result of AI in their organizations.
Although a majority of respondents do not think AI-related technologies will bring about a significant
gain or loss of jobs in their organizations, nearly twice as many say there will be a net loss of jobs
as say there will be a net gain.

• AI is widely viewed as a valuable talent acquisition tool. Most (70%) respondents agreed that
AI-based algorithms can be used to improve recruitment by scanning work samples, resumes and
other materials and then predicting which ones are most likely to lead to good hires.
• Most HR professionals have conflicted feelings about the potential power of AI to monitor
and report back on employees. Few respondents said they either love or detest the idea of using
AI to monitor employees. Most said they either “like the idea but have some reservations” (34%)
or “dislike the idea but it has some merits” (36%).

An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly pervasive in our technologies and,
therefore, our work and personal lives. But what exactly is it? The English Oxford
dictionary defines it as “The theory and development of computer systems able to
perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception,
speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.”
The modern concept of AI dates back at least as far as Alan Turing, the English
mathematician who proposed the universal Turing machine in 1937. It became
the basis for today’s programmable computer. He also introduced the famous
“Turing Test” as a way of gauging intelligent behavior in computers.
It was John McCarthy, however, who coined the term artificial intelligence in 1956.
In the 1950s, much progress was made in the field, including the development
of a checkers-playing program capable of challenging the world champion.
Since then, of course, a great deal of progress has made in many AI subfields
such as machine learning, case-based reasoning, data mining, natural language
processing, computer vision, robotics, game playing and more.
In recent years, investors have bet on the idea that AI will play an integral role in a
wide range of commercial applications. The research firm CB Insights reports that
“combined, the 10 largest tech companies have acquired 50 AI companies in the
last 5 years, targeting facial recognition startups, chatbots, chip makers, and more.”
But it isn’t only the largest tech companies that are investing in AI. In 2016, AI
attracted over $5 billion in venture capital (VC) funding, and some experts think
it’s likely AI will continue to attract a very large portion of VC funding in coming
years. CloudTweaks reports that “during the time of 2012 to 2016, the number
of deals rose from 160 to 658 each year while funding hit a record high of $5.02
billion last year as compared to just $589 million in 2012.”
These trends are already affecting the field of human resources. HR technology
leaders foresee AI’s growing role in a variety of areas such as aiding recruitment,
improving compliance, augmented training, streamlining onboarding and more.
To gain a more detailed picture of how HR is currently using AI—and will use it
in the near future—HR.com conducted “The State of Artificial Intelligence in HR”
survey in August/September 2017. Following are the primary findings and insights
from this large and detailed survey.

HR’s Knowledge and Usage of AI

Finding One: As a profession, HR is still toward the bottom of
the AI learning curve
Most HR professionals still have much to learn about how to use AI to enhance the
HR function. Very few (8%) respondents strongly agreed that they are knowledgeable
in this area, and only another 27% even moderately agreed. This lack of knowledge
is natural, given AI’s technical nature and its rapid evolution in recent years. However,
the HR profession needs to “get up to speed” on AI technology because, as we will
see, its influence and importance are expected to grow quickly in the near future.
FIGURE 1
Survey Statement: I consider myself knowledgeable about the topic of using

artificial technology for the purposes of enhancing the human resources function:
8%
12% STRONGLY AGREE
MODERATELY AGREE Only 8% strongly

13%
27%
SLIGHTLY AGREE
agree they are
knowledgeable
SLIGHTLY DISAGREE about using
10%
AI in HR
MODERATELY DISAGREE
STRONGLY DISAGREE
30%
For the purpose of this paper, we will use the data from this section to separate
survey participants into two groups:
• AI-knowledgeable respondents: The HR professionals who moderately or strongly

agreed that they are knowledgeable about the topic of using artificial
technology for the purposes of enhancing the human resources function.
• AI-unknowledgeable respondents: The HR professionals who disagreed, to
any extent, that they are knowledgeable about using AI for HR enhancement.
In some sections of this report, we will illustrate how these two cohorts view AI’s
future in the HR function in different ways.

Finding Two: Current usage rates are low but are expected to
explode in coming years
Whereas only 7% of respondents said their organizations make use of AI to a

high or very high degree today, over five times as many (39%) said they expect
their organizations will be doing so in five years.
FIGURE 2
Survey Question: For HR purposes, to what degree is your organization making

use of AI today, and to what degree do you think it will be in five years?
Percent indicating high or very high degree Respondents

forecast that by
2022, there will be
Today 7% more than a five-
fold increase in
In five years 39% the percentage of
companies that use
AI to a high degree
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Finding Three: AI-knowledgeable HR pros tend to have higher expectations
The AI-knowledgeable respondents have even higher expectations for AI’s

future in HR. Well over half (57%) predict that their organizations will use AI for
HR purposes to a high or very high extent in five years. In contrast, relatively
few (19%) of the AI-unknowledgeable respondents make the same prediction.
What accounts for that wide divide? Perhaps HR professionals with greater AI
knowledge have a more accurate insight into the future of AI in HR. If so, then
AI will soon become even more important to HR than the average response
would lead us to believe. On the other hand, perhaps the AI-knowledgeable
respondents are more passionate about this topic and so overestimate AI’s
future influence, even within the context of their own organizations.
FIGURE 3
Survey Question: For HR purposes, to what degree will your organization make
use of AI in five years?
Among AI-
Percent indicating high or very high degree unknowledgeable
participants,
AI-Knowledgeable 57% only about a
fifth said their
Average 39% organizations will
make use of AI
to a high or very
AI-Unknowledgeable 19%
high degree in
five years
0 10 20 30 40 50 60

The Features HR Pros Want Most from AI

Finding Four: The ability to analyze is the most widely preferred AI feature

When we asked participants about the feature they’d most like to see in an AI-
powered application, their top response was the “ability to analyze.” This makes
sense in light of the fact that 1) artificial intelligence, especially in the area of machine
learning, is analytical in nature and based on computers’ ability to “crunch numbers”
much more quickly than any human being can, and 2) AI-based analytics tools have
been many of the first AI products adopted by HR.
As the Society for Human Resource Management recently reported, “Tools designed
to help HR leaders understand and predict the impact of talent decisions were among
the first to hit the market and now help forecast employee flight risk, identify high-
potential employees, unearth engagement issues, recommend learning courses and
more.” In other words, AI-based HR analytics can be applied across a wide range of
HR functions.
FIGURE 4
Survey Question: Select the features you would you most like to see in an AI-powered HR
application? (select up to four)
80
78%
70 HR professionals
are most interested
60 63%
in AI’s ability to
57%
50 54% analyze, predict
50% and personalize
40
39%
30
20 23%
10
10%
0
Ability to Ability to Ability to Ability to Ability to Ability to Ability to Ability to
analyze predict personalize diagnose organize augment simulate gauge
skills emotions

Finding Five: Analytics is also viewed as the area of highest HR potential
When we asked respondents about where they thought AI has the greatest
potential to improve HR in coming years, the most popular responses—by a wide
margin—was analytics and metrics. Again, we believe this is because analytics is IMAGE
a natural AI strength and because it can be applied across many HR functions.
The other top-rated response items are more well-defined by HR function. They include:
• Time and Attendance

• Talent Acquisition
• Training and Development
• Compensation and Payroll
The vast majority of organizations, even smaller ones, need to track employee
“time and attendance” as well as “compensation and payroll,” so applying AI to AI is viewed as
these data-heavy areas makes sense, especially from an analytics point of view. having the highest
potential in the HR
FIGURE 5 analytics function
Survey Statement: Select the areas where you think AI has the greatest
potential to improve the HR function in the next five years. (select all that apply)
80
79%
70
60
56%
50 54%
52% 51%
48%
40 42%
40%
37%
35% 35%
30 31% 30% 28%
20 22%
16%
10 12%
3%
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Finding Six: The ability to predict is widely desired and is linked to

talent acquisition
Prediction is the second most widely preferred AI feature (see Figure Four). Why?
Because it is a major component of many HR professionals’ jobs. That is, they must
be able to anticipate a wide range of factors, such as:
• Which job candidates will make the best hires

• Which employees are most likely to leave the organization
• What kind of compensation packages are most likely to lead to employee retention
• What the need and availability will be for employees with certain skill sets
• Which benefit packages are most likely to appeal to employees
This list, of course, could be much expanded, but one area worth focusing on
is talent acquisition. As Figure Five shows, talent acquisition was the third most
widely cited area where AI has the opportunity to improve the HR function. Even
more interesting, 59% of AI-knowledgeable respondents chose talent acquisition,
making it the second most widely chosen item among that cohort.
Successful talent acquisition largely hinges on predictive ability. AI-based algorithms Seventy percent
can be used to scan work samples, resumes and other materials (see Figure Six) believe that AI-
and then predict which ones are most likely to lead to good hires. Moreover, AI can based algorithms
potentially be used to analyze and predict based on a range of other types of data, can improve
from online candidate profiles to word choice and even facial expressions. recruitment
FIGURE 6
Survey Statement: Using AI-based algorithms to scan work samples, resumes, and
other materials presented by applicants improves the recruitment and selection process
3%
8% 19%
STRONGLY AGREE
AGREE
19%
NEITHER AGREE NOR DISAGREE
DISAGREE
STRONGLY DISAGREE
51%

Finding Seven: The ability to personalize is another preferred feature

and is associated with learning and development
The ability to personalize was chosen as a key AI feature among 57% of

respondents (see Figure Four). Although personalization can be applied across
various functions, it is typically associated with employee learning and education
programs. This connection probably helps explain why training and development
was viewed as among the top four areas in which AI has the greatest potential to
improve the HR function (see Figure Five).

AI in HR Today and Tomorrow

Finding Eight: Nearly a quarter say AI is already important to overall
HR technologies today, and two-thirds say it will be in five years
Although there’s a consensus that AI will become more important in the near future,
we should not ignore the fact that nearly a quarter of respondents (23%) said that
AI is already important or very important to their overall HR technologies today.
This finding emphasizes the fact that AI is not just a futuristic HR factor. It’s a
current factor in many companies.
It is true, however, that AI will become even more important. In fact, two-thirds
expect AI to be important to overall HR technologies in five years (see Figure
Seven). For the AI-knowledgeable cohort, the number rises to 79%.
Respondents predict huge jumps in importance for other areas as well. One In these six areas,
worth mentioning is learning and development. Not only do 63% expect AI HR professionals
to be important to T&D in five years, that number jumps to 72% for the predict massive
AI-knowledgeable cohort. increases in the
At a more general level, AI is expected to have a major impact on overall employee importance of AI
productivity as well as what we could call “cognitive productivity” in form of
better decision making and strategic planning.
FIGURE 7
Survey Question: How important is AI to this HR area and how important do you expect
it to be in five years? [percent important and very important]
70
67%
60 63%
57% 56% 56%

50 51%
40
30
20 23%
20% 21%
18% 18% 18%
10
Overall HR Learning and Strategic Employee Decision Talent

Technology Development Planning Productivity Making Acquisition
TODAY IN FIVE YEARS

Finding Nine: There is a risk of AI hype in the HR function
As the importance of AI in HR rises, the risk of market hype increases as well.

In fact, the research and advisory organization Gartner reports that the growing UPGRADING NOW.....
interest in AI is “pushing established software vendors to introduce AI into their UPGRADING NOW.....
product strategy, creating considerable confusion in the process.”
Things have happened quickly in this area over the last couple of years. Gartner.com
reports that in January 2016, the term “artificial intelligence” wasn’t among the top
100 search terms on its website but that by May 2017, it ranked as number 7.
Gartner isn’t the only source picking up on the increasing popularity of AI as a search
term. Google Trends, which is based on global Google searches, shows an increase
from 27 in 2014 to 100 as of July 2017 (see Figure Eight).*
FIGURE 8
Artificial Intelligence as a Search Term on Google

(July 2014 to October 2017)
100
80
60
40
20
0
7-20-2014
9-20-2014
11-20-2014
1-20-2015
3-20-2015
5-20-2015
7-20-2015
9-20-2015
11-20-2015
1-20-2016
3-20-2016
5-20-2016
7-20-2016
9-20-2016
11-20-2016
17-20-2016
3-20-2016
5-20-2016
7-20-2016
9-20-2016
*Note: Google indexes its data to 100, where 100 is the maximum search interest for the time selected.
Other figures are a proportion of that 100 number.
Amid all the general interest in AI—and the specific interest in AI within the HR
function—HR vendors become more likely to tout AI capabilities of their products.
As a result, HR professionals will need to hone their abilities to gauge the quality
of those offerings and discern hype from reality.

The Role of AI in Automation and Augmentation

Finding Ten: In general, HR professionals expect that AI will be used
more for automation than augmentation
Although HR focuses on human beings, today’s HR professionals generally

believe that AI will be used more for automation than augmentation in their
organizations. Whether or not this is true, it highlights the mindset that AI-based
technologies will tend to take over certain tasks and jobs rather than amplify or
supplement the skills that human beings bring to their work.
That mindset is understandable in an age when so many manufacturing jobs have

already been automated and there are hundreds of articles on how self-driving cars
and trucks are going to wipe out millions of transportation jobs.
Some experts, however, do not agree that automation will trump augmentation
in coming years. When the MIT Sloan School of Management hosted the 14th
annual CIO Symposium in May 2017— “The CIO Adventure: Now, Next and…
Beyond”—it put together an expert panel that discussed the automation vs.
augmentation question. MIT Sloan Management Review reports the following:
[MIT Media Lab’s Joi Ito] argues that augmentation—that is, using
machine learning to improve industrial processes, workplace efficiency,
and customer experiences—is the more common way to leverage the
technology today, and the panel finds consensus around this idea.
Azarbayejani’s firm, Cogito Corporation Inc., for example, employs AI
to understand the nuances of how people use words in conversations,
using the knowledge to provide real-time feedback to frontline staff in
call center environments.
In another example, a Boston University study recently found that “people hated
talking to a machine during customer service encounters, even if it’s a supposedly
smart, Siri-like interactive voice response system,” according to the Forbes article
Why AI Should Augment, And Not Replace, Staff. But AI can help customer
service employees quickly locate answers to typical customer questions, thereby
enhancing the quality and productivity of such workers.

FIGURE 9
Survey Question: In your organization, to what degree will the following

usages of AI become prevalent over the next five years?
Percent saying high or very high
Over half said
Automating
54% automating tasks will
various tasks
become prevalent to
Augumenting
35%
a high degree in their
employee capbilities
organizations over
the next five years
Enhancing managerial
35%
decision making
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Finding Eleven: Highly AI-knowledgeable HR pros are more likely to

foresee high usage of AI for augmenting employees
AI-knowledgeable respondents were also more likely to give the nod to automation
(69%) over augmentation (57%), but their responses differed in two ways. First, the
predicted gap between the two uses of AI was narrower. Second, they were much
more likely to believe augmentation would play a major role over the next five years.
Whereas 57% of AI-knowledgeable respondents said that augmentation would

play a prevalent role over the next years, the same was true for only 22% of the
AI-unknowledgeable cohort.
FIGURE 10
Survey Question: In your organization, to what degree will the following

usages of AI become prevalent over the next five years?
Percent indicating high or very high degree for
employee augmentation
AI-knowledgeable and
AI-knowledgeable 57%
AI-unknowledgeable
respondents view
the future of
Average 35%
augmentation
very differently
AI-unknowledgeable 22%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Finding Twelve: In terms of features HR would like to see, employee

augmentation is little more than an afterthought
As Figure Four shows, the “ability to augment skills” was chosen by only 39% of
respondents when they were asked about which features they’d most like to see in
an AI-powered HR application. It was ranked sixth out of eight possible features. It
seems most HR professionals are not focused on the topic of skills augmentation.
We must note, however, that many of the most desired features of AI-powered
HR applications—such as the ability to analyze, predict and diagnose—could
conceivably be used to augment rather than replace HR professional jobs. To a
degree, therefore, some of the distinctions between automation and augmentation
are a matter of semantics.
Finding Thirteen: There is widespread agreement that HR will use

automated AI interfaces to respond to employee questions
Most HR professionals anticipate harnessing forms of AI to automate or augment a

portion of their jobs, especially when it comes to responding to employee questions.
Seventy-three percent agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that “AI
interfaces such as chatbots and virtual assistants will become an increasingly
viable way for employees to get real-time answers to their HR-related questions.”
Because such technologies can sometimes lead to high rates of frustration on Nearly three-quarters
the part of users, actual adoption rates will largely depend on how quickly these
agree that chatbots
technologies advance.
and virtual assistants
FIGURE 11 have a future in the
HR function
Survey Statement: AI interfaces such as chatbots and virtual assistants will
become an increasingly viable way for employees to get real-time answers
to their HR-related questions
1%
6%
25%
STRONGLY AGREE
20%
AGREE
DISAGREE
STRONGLY DISAGREE
48%

Finding Fourteen: Your next boss may be an AI
Employees will increasingly take direction from AIs, according to 53% of

respondents, whereas only 13% said this would not happen. Nearly two-thirds
(63%) of AI-knowledgeable respondents agreed or strongly agreed with this assertion.
Will AIs actually manage human beings? That depends on our definition of
“manage.” AI-capabilities may well continue to improve project management
software. Writing in Psychology Today, Ray Williams argues that “many routine
basic administrative coordination and control tasks such as resource allocation,
reporting and scheduling will be done by AI.”
AIs will not, however, soon be able to listen to employee concerns, make Nearly two-thirds of
judgements, facilitate teams, address personality conflicts and the like. For AI-knowledgeable
this, human managers and leaders will be needed. Managers will likely view AI
respondents say
software as a powerful management tool and perhaps even a kind of colleague.
employees will
increasingly take
FIGURE 12
direction from AIs
Survey Question: Over the next five years, employees will increasingly
take direction from AIs that allocate and assign tasks to them (for example,
by using automated project management software).
3% 8%
10%
STRONGLY AGREE
AGREE
45% DISAGREE
34%
STRONGLY DISAGREE

Finding Fifteen: More respondents predict job losses than job gains
as a result of AI
A majority of respondents do not think AI-related technologies will bring about a

significant gain or loss of job in their organizations, but nearly twice as many say
there will be a net loss of jobs as say there will be a net gain. The implication is
that, while AI may not be the massive job killer some experts predict, it will lead
to fewer jobs overall in existing organizations.
Nearly twice as
Although AI-knowledgeable HR pros are more likely than average to foresee job many HR pros
gains, they still tend to predict losses of jobs (30%) rather than net gains (21%). foresee job losses
rather than job
FIGURE 13 gains as a result
of AI
Survey Question: How do you think AI-related technologies will influence
the number of jobs in your organization over the next five years?
27%
THERE WILL BE A NET LOST IN JOBS
THERE WILL BE A NET GAIN IN JOBS
58%
THERE WILL NOT BE A SIGNIFICANT GAIN OR LOSS
15%

Drilling Down into Talent Acquisition

As we noted previously (see Figure Six), most (70%) respondents agreed
that AI-based algorithms can be used to improve recruitment by scanning
work samples, resumes and other materials and then predicting which ones
are most likely to lead to good hires.
But there are also areas related to talent acquitions where AI might play a role
as well. These areas are potentially more controversial uses of AI because
they go beyond just scanning materials presented by applicants. Following are
two more areas related specifically to recruitment and selection.
Finding Sixteen: Nearly three-fifths agree AI can improve recruitment by

scanning and analyzing social media posts and other online materials
Well over half (59%) of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement
that “using AI-based algorithms to scan and analyze social media posts, photos
and other candidate-related online materials improves the recruitment process.”
This type of usage of AI, however, raises a number of issues. Should a job
candidate’s online communications and images, which were often not intended
to be work related, be used to make recruitment decisions? After all, such
information was not typically available before the age of the social media and
might be perceived by some as an invasion of their virtual private space.
Another issue is that such communications could reveal much about a candidate’s
ethnicity, religion, gender, country of origin and other factors. This could potentially be
problematic because Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits workplace
discrimination based on religion, national origin, race, color, or sex characteristics.
Of course, it can be argued that AI does not change anything in this area. Using
social media for hiring is already perceived as a risk that must be managed.
“Social media profiles have become founts of information for recruiters vetting job
candidates, presenting a risk not only to applicants whose personal posts may
hurt their chances but also to employers who might discover details they don’t
want seeping into their hiring decisions,” reports the Chicago Tribune.
So, the real question is whether a particular AI application somehow increases

those risks. In a recent interview, data scientist Cathy O’Neil, author of Weapons
of Math Destruction, addresses the topic of algorithms that help companies make
hiring decisions. She argues that algorithms are sometimes based on historical
data that includes decisions made by individuals that were, consciously or not,
suffering from race or gender-related prejudices.

FIGURE 14
Survey Statement: Using AI-based algorithms to scan and analyze social media posts,
photos and other candidate-related online materials improves the recruitment process.
4%
13% Just 15% disagreed
11%
STRONGLY AGREE that recruitment
can be improved
AGREE
by scanning and
NEITHER AGREE NOR DISAGREE analyzing social
26%
DISAGREE
media posts,
photos and other
46% STRONGLY DISAGREE
candidate-related
online materials
Finding Seventeen: Fewer HR professionals agree that AI is a good

way of assessing emotions and engagement
Only two-fifths of respondents agreed that “using AI-based algorithms to analyze

interviews, facial expressions, word choice and other areas is a good way of
assessing areas such as candidate engagement and emotion.” It’s likely that
many respondents do not yet view AI as being adept at these types of skills, but
this may change over time.

FIGURE 15
Survey Statement: Using AI-based algorithms to analyze interviews, facial

expressions, word choice and other areas is a good way of assessing areas
such as candidate engagement and emotion.

6% 8%
STRONGLY AGREE
Most do not yet
22% trust AI to read
AGREE
candidate emotions
32% in a dependable way
DISAGREE
STRONGLY DISAGREE
32%

The Conflicted HR Professional

Finding Eighteen: Most HR professionals have mixed feelings about
the potential power of AI to monitor and report back on employees.
The application of AI to personnel and management issues is likely to trigger future

quandaries for HR professionals. To further investigate this, we asked a controversial
question: “How would you feel about AI software that tracks everything your
employees do on their digital devices, analyzes those activities, and then regularly
reports back to their supervisors with a summary and recommendations?”
The results to the question highlight the fact that HR professionals, taken as
a whole, have mixed or even conflicted feelings about applying powerful AI to
people management. Few respondents said they either love or detest the idea.
Most said they either “like the idea but have some reservations” (34%) or “dislike
the idea but it has some merits” (36%).
Although there was a slight edge in the direction of dislike/detest, the responses
show that HR professionals are of two minds on this issue. The bottom line is
that as AI becomes more capable and powerful, HR professionals as well other
organizational leaders will not only need to determine what they can do with AI
technology, but what they should do with it. Therefore, HR professionals should
familiarize themselves with the nuances of AI-based technologies and clearly
envision how these technology can and should be used.
FIGURE 16
Survey Question: How would you feel about AI software that tracks everything your employees
do on their digital devices (desktop, laptop, smartphone, etc.), analyzes those activities, and then
regularly reports back to their supervisors with a summary and recommendations? (check one)
40
35 37 %
34%
30
HR professionals
25 are of two minds
20 about using AI to
15
18% monitor employees
10
5 7% 2% 2%
0
I love the I like the idea I don’t care I dislike the idea I detest the Other - write in
idea but have some one way or but it has idea
reservations the other some merits

Key Takeaways
In light of these research findings, what steps should organizations take? Below
are eight key takeaways that may help.
1. Boost HR’s AI IQ. Few HR professionals believe they are very knowledgeable
about using AI to enhance HR, so the first order of business is for more HR
professionals to “get up to speed” in the area of AI. This means reading reports
(like this one) and articles, speaking with internal and external experts, attending
HR
conferences, tracking trends, and otherwise climbing the AI learning curve.
2. Prepare for both advances and marketing jargon. There have been, and will
continue to be, many amazing advances in the field of AI, and these advances
will soon be applied to HR technology products. However, as AI becomes more
integral to HR technologies, there will be a lot of hype from marketers. This
is one of the primary reasons HR pros need to boost their AI IQ. Unless they
do, they will not know how to separate the wheat from the chaff and so wind
up spending a lot of money on products that cannot perform as advertised.
3. Determine where AI can help your HR function most. This will vary accordingly
to organizational needs and the evolution of HR technology itself. For now,
at least, HR professionals see the greatest potential in the areas of analytics,
time and attendance, talent acquisition, T&D and compensation/payroll. However,
we must take this with a grain of salt, given the fact so many HR professionals
are still neophytes in this area. If your particular HR area is operating smoothly,
there’s no need to go out and purchase the latest AI-powered option. But if your
operations are clunky and inefficient, then it may well be worth seeking out an
AI-powered solution that boosts performance.
4. Leverage AI’s ability to analyze, predict and personalize. These are the features
that HR professionals want to see most in AI-powered HR applications, but
they will help in some HR jobs more than others. Personalization, for example,
is probably most applicable to areas such as learning and development and
career management. Before adopting a new technology, determine what you’d
like to see from it and how well it can deliver. Also, establish the degree to which
the new technology can actually boost performance, as opposed to just
seeming impressive.
5. Consider the bigger workforce picture. HR professionals are duty bound

to think outside their function. AI is going to change more than the HR
department. It is likely to change the way much, if not most, work gets done,
and HR professionals should be part of these conversations. Should AI be

used to automate a job or augment employees doing that job? This will become
a more common debate within organizations, and HR should be able to bring a
particular and well-informed point of view to the table.
6. Look for ways to augment employees. AI-based applications have the potential
to dramatically raise the productivity of employees. This is true both within
and outside of the HR function. For example, AIs may help healthcare workers
diagnose patients more easily or aid financial analysts in spotting important
patterns in recent sales data. Although HR professionals can’t possibly keep
up with every AI application in every job category, they can become knowledgeable
internal consultants on the topic of how to boost employee performance via
AI-related technologies and how to estimate potential productivity increases.
7. Investigate how the “AI bosses” will influence employees. As more projects
and workflows are “managed” by AIs, employees will be affected in multiple
ways, from the establishment of new work processes to the development of new
work attitudes. How will this change the need for human contact? Does it increase
or diminish social skills and emotional intelligence? Are some types of employees
more suited for AI-management than others? HR professionals will need to track
these issues and help human managers cope with challenges as they arise.
8. Ponder the hard ethical and legal questions in advance. As AI-applications

evolve, they will become increasingly powerful. HR and other leaders will need to
distinguish between what’s possible and what’s desirable. If, for example,
AI could be used to monitor employees more closely than ever before, should
it be used for that? How will that impact corporate culture, employee retention
and other issues? How can HR weigh the costs against the benefits? HR and
corporate leaders have had to deal with similar issues before, such as drug testing
or email privacy. AI will raise more of such issues, and HR must be prepared to
address them.

About HR.com
HR.com strives to help create inspired workforces by making HR professionals
smarter. Over 1,100,000 HR professionals turn to HR.com as the trusted resource
for education, career development, and compliance: 5,600+ lessons and tips
in the HR Genius on-demand training library, 400+ informative webcasts and
virtual events yearly, the largest HR certification exam preparation practice
supporting SHRM and HRCI certification, a global Leadership annual event,
community networks, blogs, career planning, 12 monthly themed interactive
HR epublications, 35+ primary research reports, and up-to-date industry news
onsite daily. HR.com offers the best training and networking for HR professionals
globally 24/7/365. www.hr.com
HR.com Buyer’s Guide
Check out our special AI Buyer’s Guide featuring products and services in
the artificial intelligence, chatbots and machine learning fields. It contains
highlights on what these products do in relation to AI and how it helps to improve
productivity or impacts HR. Plus full contact information and details. A significant
portion of these highlights were provided to HR.com by Talent Tech Labs, the
talent acquisition software expert community. www.hr.com/aibuyersguide
AI BUYER’S GUIDE
Click here to view the “AI in HR - today and in 5 years” infographic.

www.hr.com/AIinfographic
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The State

An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence 5

HR’s Knowledge and Usage of AI 6

The Features HR Pros Want Most from AI 9

AI in HR Today and Tomorrow 13

The Role of AI in Automation and Augmentation 15

Drilling Down into Talent Acquisition 20

The Conflicted HR Professional 23

2 www.hr.com | 877-472-6648 copyright © HR.com 2017

3 www.hr.com | 877-472-6648 copyright © HR.com 2017

4 www.hr.com | 877-472-6648 copyright © HR.com 2017

An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

5 www.hr.com | 877-472-6648 copyright © HR.com 2017

HR’s Knowledge and Usage of AI

Survey Statement: I consider myself knowledgeable about the topic of using

MODERATELY AGREE Only 8% strongly

• AI-knowledgeable respondents: The HR professionals who moderately or strongly

6 www.hr.com | 877-472-6648 copyright © HR.com 2017

Whereas only 7% of respondents said their organizations make use of AI to a

Survey Question: For HR purposes, to what degree is your organization making

Percent indicating high or very high degree Respondents

7 www.hr.com | 877-472-6648 copyright © HR.com 2017

Finding Three: AI-knowledgeable HR pros tend to have higher expectations

The AI-knowledgeable respondents have even higher expectations for AI’s

8 www.hr.com | 877-472-6648 copyright © HR.com 2017

The Features HR Pros Want Most from AI

9 www.hr.com | 877-472-6648 copyright © HR.com 2017

Finding Five: Analytics is also viewed as the area of highest HR potential

• Time and Attendance

10 www.hr.com | 877-472-6648 copyright © HR.com 2017

Finding Six: The ability to predict is widely desired and is linked to

• Which job candidates will make the best hires

11 www.hr.com | 877-472-6648 copyright © HR.com 2017

Finding Seven: The ability to personalize is another preferred feature

The ability to personalize was chosen as a key AI feature among 57% of

12 www.hr.com | 877-472-6648 copyright © HR.com 2017

AI in HR Today and Tomorrow

57% 56% 56%

Overall HR Learning and Strategic Employee Decision Talent

TODAY IN FIVE YEARS

13 www.hr.com | 877-472-6648 copyright © HR.com 2017

Finding Nine: There is a risk of AI hype in the HR function

As the importance of AI in HR rises, the risk of market hype increases as well.

product strategy, creating considerable confusion in the process.”

Artificial Intelligence as a Search Term on Google

14 www.hr.com | 877-472-6648 copyright © HR.com 2017

The Role of AI in Automation and Augmentation

Although HR focuses on human beings, today’s HR professionals generally

That mindset is understandable in an age when so many manufacturing jobs have

15 www.hr.com | 877-472-6648 copyright © HR.com 2017

Survey Question: In your organization, to what degree will the following

Finding Eleven: Highly AI-knowledgeable HR pros are more likely to

Whereas 57% of AI-knowledgeable respondents said that augmentation would

Survey Question: In your organization, to what degree will the following

16 www.hr.com | 877-472-6648 copyright © HR.com 2017

Finding Twelve: In terms of features HR would like to see, employee

Finding Thirteen: There is widespread agreement that HR will use

Most HR professionals anticipate harnessing forms of AI to automate or augment a

NEITHER AGREE NOR DISAGREE

17 www.hr.com | 877-472-6648 copyright © HR.com 2017

Finding Fourteen: Your next boss may be an AI

Employees will increasingly take direction from AIs, according to 53% of

NEITHER AGREE NOR DISAGREE