This week, Barry Phillips asks whether AI is quietly taking the “human” out of Human Resources. As automated systems increasingly influence recruitment, employee support and workplace decision-making, are organisations becoming more efficient at the expense of empathy, judgement and genuine human connection.

Transcript:

Hello Humans!

And welcome to the weekly podcast that aims to address an AI for HR issue in around five minutes. My name is Barry Phillips.
This week, I want to ask a fairly simple question.

Is artificial intelligence taking the human out of Human Resources?

Now, I know what some of you are thinking. “Barry, surely HR has been accused of lacking humanity since long before ChatGPT arrived.” Fair point.

But AI is changing the relationship between employees and HR in ways that are easy to underestimate.

Recruitment systems can now screen applications. Chatbots can answer policy questions. Algorithms can identify employees who may be thinking of leaving.

Software can draft job descriptions, summarise meetings, recommend training and even help managers write performance reviews. 

In theory, this sounds marvellous. Faster responses. Lower costs. Fewer repetitive tasks. More time for HR professionals to focus on strategic work.

That phrase, “more time for strategic work”, has been used to justify almost every piece of HR technology ever purchased.

And yet, strangely, HR never seems to end up with more time.

It simply ends up with another dashboard.

The real concern is not that AI will replace HR departments overnight. 

The real concern is that organisations will gradually automate the very moments when employees most need to feel that someone is listening.

AI is very good at processing information.

It is not necessarily good at recognising when the information is only part of the story.

An employee might ask a chatbot about compassionate leave. The chatbot may provide the correct policy.

But the employee may not really be asking about the policy.
They may be saying, “Something terrible has happened, I am struggling, and I need to know whether this organisation is going to treat me like a human being.”

Employees do not require emotional support when asking how many days remain in the holiday year.

But some situations demand judgement, discretion, empathy and occasionally the ability to sit quietly while another person gathers their thoughts.

Those are not inefficiencies.

They are part of the job.

HR therefore needs to ask tougher questions before introducing AI.

What problem are we solving?

Who benefits?

What happens when the system gets it wrong?

Can an employee challenge a decision?

And, perhaps most importantly, is there still a clear route to a real person?

Because employees will tolerate technology.

They may even appreciate it.

But they will quickly resent technology that appears to have been installed to keep them at a distance.

The future of HR should not be a choice between humans and machines.

It should be about using machines for what machines do well, so that humans have more capacity to do what only humans can do well.

Listen.

Question.

Reassure.

Challenge.

Exercise judgement.

And occasionally say, “Forget the process for a moment. Tell me what has happened.”

AI may become faster, smarter and more capable than any of us currently imagine.

But HR should never become a department where employees can obtain an answer instantly and still feel completely unheard.

Because the moment people begin asking, “Hello, can I speak to a human, please?”, the problem is no longer the technology.

The problem is that HR has forgotten what the “H” stands for.