Research Report Summary - The State of Artificial Intelligence in HR

Getting up to speed on AI in order to gain maximum advantage for the HR function

Human Resources is climbing the learning curve when it comes to using artificial intelligence (AI), according to new research by HR.com. Yet, it still has a long and exciting trip ahead.
 
HR’s usage of AI is, of course, part of a larger trend. Not only are many of the world’s largest companies betting big on AI, but last year AI attracted over $5 billion in venture capital (VC) funding.

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 “The 2018 State of Artificial Intelligence in HR” survey in August/September 2018. This is the second year in a row that HR.com conducted this survey.

The study found that AI has great potential to enhance HR in the areas of analytics and metrics, talent acquisition, training and development, time and attendance and performance management. This doesn’t mean that it won’t impact other areas, however. As the the following graph show, it’s likely to affect a wide range of HR functions in many organizations.



Here are the primary findings and insights from the survey.

In 2017, only 36% of respondents moderately agreed or strongly agreed that they were knowledgeable about AI. In 2018, that number rose to 43%. In 2017, only 9% of respondents strongly agreed they were knowledgeable about using AI in HR, a number that rose to 14% in 2018.

The proportion of respondent organizations using AI to a high or very high degree for HR purposes is now 10%, up from 7% a year ago. Looking ahead, 46% expect high or very high usage in five years.

Chatbots can sometimes lead to high rates of frustration on the part of users, and actual adoption rates will largely depend on how quickly these technologies advance. It’s likely that success will come from accurately directing the sort of questions a chatbot can handle to the chatbot, while quickly routing more ambiguous questions to human operators.

Employees will increasingly take direction from AIs, according to 60% of respondents, whereas only 12% said this would not happen.

AIs will not, however, soon be able to listen to employee concerns, make judgments, facilitate teams, address personality conflicts and the like. For this, human managers and leaders will be needed. Managers will likely view AI software as a powerful management tool and perhaps even a kind of colleague.

A majority of respondents do not think AI-related technologies will bring about a significant gain or loss of jobs in their organizations, but more say there will be a net loss of jobs than say there will be a net gain (26% and 19%, respectively). The implication is that, while AI may not be the massive job killer some experts predict, it is expected to lead to fewer jobs overall in existing organizations.

There is nearly a consensus on this, but exactly how this will play out depends on the job. Augmented reality is most likely to be useful for jobs involving physical objects.

For example, computerized/augmented reality glasses could allow an employee to look at a machine and see instructions on how to adjust the settings to get a certain result. In this case, the distance between learning and doing is very small. An augmented reality device may point to which switch to turn just at the moment the employee needs it, just as a GPS tells you when to turn left.

The combination of AI and augmented reality could also be used in training for highly skilled jobs such as radiologist. Indeed, some research shows that virtual simulation can be an effective means of learning to diagnose and address certain conditions.

AI can be the foundation for eLearning-based recommendation engines or potentially tailor an individual eLearning program for an individual (e.g., a foreign language training program that notices strengths and weaknesses and adjusts the lesson to that). HR professionals clearly see the potential here, with 26% strongly agreeing and another 57% agreeing that AI will improve the effectiveness of learning and development (L&D) systems.



About 77% of HR professionals also noted that AI would free up time managers often spend on administrative dues, thereby allowing them to spend of their workday coaching and mentoring employees.

AI has already become important to HR and will only become more important in the years ahead. On top of that, AI is constantly evolving and developing new capabilities. For the foreseeable future, HR professionals will need to invest in expanding their understanding of AI and keeping that understanding up-to-date.