Ethics in the use of artificial intelligence in Human Resources
The purpose of the project is to understand how ethical arguments in relation to use of artificial intelligence (AI) affects Human Resources (HR) as a profession and the practice of HR employees. The project is relevant to the development of competitive organizations, because the HR profession contribution to organizational processes and development is inhibited when AI is presented as a technical solution independent of human intervention.
Funding in SEK: 3, 7 millions
Project website
Start
2024-09-01
Planned completion
2027-08-31
Main financing
Project manager at MDU
Purpose of the project
The purpose of the project is to understand how ethical arguments in relation to use of artificial intelligence (AI) affects Human Resources (HR) as a profession and the practice of HR employees.
More specifically, the project aims to theorize and develop useful knowledge about challenges and opportunities for an ethically sustainable integration of AI into central organizational processes, such as HR, to promote organizations' competitiveness in the development of Industry 5.0.
The project is based on:
- the presentation of AI solutions in HR as increasingly important for efficient and objective management of employees without the involvement of the human HR employee, and
- the risk that AI solutions make human involvement invisible, which means that AI solutions are constructed as uninfluenceable and impossible to question and change.
Project aims to
To achieve the aim, three questions will be answered:
- What ethical arguments are used by HR employees when introducing and using AI tools?
- How are the ethical challenges that the introduction and use of AI tools in HR entail?
- What consequences do these ethical challenges have for HR's own profession and practice, in the support for managers and employees and in the relationship with trade unions?
These results will be disseminated through scientific conferences, seminars and publications and practically through an educational material with a checklist for companies that are about to implement AI in their HR processes.
Activites
The study is carried out in collaboration with companies that have introduced AI tools in their HR processes.
Part study 1: focus group interviews with HR employees from different work groups and/or companies.
Part study 2: daily diary entries of employees in HR departments in two rounds 6 months apart.
Part study 3: individual interviews on two occasions based on the diary entries to deepen the understanding of the individual respondent's written arguments and reflections.
