Whitepaper

Recent years have witnessed a rapid expansion of tools that leverage AI to take on human resources tasks such as hiring, training, and employee engagement, and yet also a growing concern about the ethical and organizational risks of such tools.

The World Economic Forum created the Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence for Human Resources project in response to the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in human resources (HR). While improving and addressing key issues in HR in important ways, this technology has also raised well-justified concerns about its use. The project convened a multistakeholder community of experts to create a practical toolkit for the responsible use of AI in HR, which was tested with HR professionals in a variety of organizations around the world.

This White Paper accompanies the release of the toolkit and presents an overview of the landscape of AI in HR. It begins by outlining what organizations are already doing with AI in HR and the challenges they are facing. It then presents the key lessons that emerged from the project and the HR professionals’ reactions to the toolkit, and provides data from surveys completed by both the experts and HR professionals involved in the project. Solutions to the use of AI in HR include deploying the technology in a more targeted manner to address lower stakes issues or to purposely change the status quo in some way. Also discussed is the fanfare and mystery surrounding AI, which is important to dispel in order to promote a clear and realistic approach to governance. Finally, new issues on the horizon for AI in HR are examined, including the approach of AI regulation and its likely impact on the HR industry, as well as other options for governance, such as auditing and certification