How HR Professionals Can Use AI Effectively Without Losing Human Judgement
It’s a normal Tuesday, I walk in to work and discover I’ve been replaced by an AI bot named Susie.
She has already answered every email, updated my project list, analyzed compensation data, and developed a training program. Susie doesn’t need coffee, take vacation, or wander into someone’s office to tell a story that requires considerably more background than anyone requested.
Frankly, she’s making me look bad.
Then someone asks Susie how to handle a high-performing manager whose team keeps quitting. “Have you tried improving employee engagement?” she responds.
…And just like that, someone wants to talk to me again.
Thankfully, this was just a nightmare. But I suspect I’m not the only person who has wondered whether AI might eventually do my job faster, cheaper, and without needing to find her glasses first.
As an HR professional, I find AI both exciting and a little unsettling. I can see plenty of opportunities to hand over work! However, I’m considerably less enthusiastic about handing over my judgment.
I can’t promise AI won’t change our jobs. But I think we should put as much thought into how it can strengthen our contribution as we do into how much time it can save.
Give AI a Task, Keep Responsibility for the Outcome
Much of our work involves getting to a useful starting point. Perhaps it’s drafting an outline, organizing information, or reworking a paragraph that somehow contains 87 words and still says very little.
AI can absolutely help with those things! I’ve asked it for ideas, challenged its suggestions, and revised what it produces. Sometimes it gives me something useful. Sometimes it gives me a beautifully written paragraph that reads like a birthday card from a distant relative. Nice sentiment. Doesn’t really know me.
My job is to decide what fits, what’s missing, and what needs to go. That matters even more when the work AI produces affects people. A polished answer can still be wrong or overlook the most important detail.
The Hard Part of HR Usually Isn't Writing the Words
Consider a difficult employee conversation.
AI might help a manager prepare an opening statement or think through questions. That could be useful, especially if the alternative is avoiding the conversation for another six months. But the manager still has to listen, notice the reaction, and recognize when new information changes the situation.
Anyone who has worked in HR knows that the first version of a problem is rarely the complete version. “We have a communication issue” can mean anything from unclear expectations to a leader who considers shouting at others an effective communication style.
What Is HR Doing With the Time We Save?
This is where I think we have an opportunity.
If AI helps us spend less time drafting and organizing, could we spend more time coaching, understanding what employees are experiencing, and asking better questions?
Of course, there’s another possibility: we save an hour and immediately fill it with more work. Or another meeting (because apparently those reproduce when left unsupervised).
Efficiency has value. But I’d like us to be intentional about where that value goes. Some of it should help us give more attention to the work that requires our presence, curiosity, and judgment.
Start Small & Stay Involved with AI
You don’t need to reinvent your job this week. Choose one recurring task where AI could help you get started. Use an approved tool, follow your organization’s rules for confidential information, and review the output carefully.
Then ask yourself:
- Did this improve the work?
- What did I have to correct?
- What did it free me up to do?
For HR and leaders, there’s also a responsibility to make room for employees to learn, ask questions, and talk honestly about their concerns. “Don’t worry about it” is rarely a convincing change management strategy.
I’m happy to let a bot help with an outline. I’ll even let it take a run at that 87-word sentence. But when someone says, “Can I talk to you about something?” I want the time, attention, and capacity to hear what comes next.
Susie can keep the project list. I’ll take the conversation.