A comprehensive new study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in January 2023 shows that only about one in four employers currently utilizes artificial intelligence to support human resources activities. However, nearly 50 percent of surveyed HR professionals state that adopting AI solutions has become a much higher priority for their organizations over the past 12 months alone.
The research indicates that implementation of AI software has been most widespread so far among the largest corporations (over 5,000 employees) and within the technology, financial services, and information/data-driven industries. Among employers that have integrated AI into HR processes, talent recruitment and acquisition represents the top application by far (64 percent), followed by employee learning and development (43 percent) and performance management (25 percent).
Although optimism about the transformative potential of AI dominates among HR leaders, a significant minority (24 percent) still harbors concerns about eventual job losses from increased automation. Prominent HR consultant and futurologist Jeanne Meister believes that while the surge in productivity from AI will surely cause some displacements, the overall outcome will be more of a transformation than the outright elimination of jobs at scale.
Meister foresees that “some occupations will shrink, some will grow, and others will evolve with new roles, reskilling and job redesign. For example, AI will massively improve auditing capacity, which will shrink accounting teams. Certain recruiting and HR service center tasks will become automated, but more impactfully, many existing roles across the enterprise will take on new shape.”
For organizations not yet deploying AI tools, the top three barriers cited were: 1) lack of understanding about specific AI capabilities and use cases; 2) budget constraints regarding auditing of AI algorithms 3) fears that incorporating AI could remove essential human judgment and nuance.
Among early AI adopters, frequently reported benefits include substantial time savings, superior identification of ideal job candidates, greatly lowered recruitment costs, personalized upskilling recommendations for employees, and more consistent, constructive feedback for performance reviews.
Meister summarizes: “Implementing AI won’t be a zero-sum game across the board. While some job categories will certainly face contraction, others will experience expansion and elevation. It will be a complex, disruptive reshaping that requires agility and retraining, not an all-or-nothing referendum on automation.”
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