75 Ways AI Could Act As HR

It is a matter of when, not if, AI completely upends human resources (HR). At this very moment, entrepreneurs are inventing AI HR technology applications powered by OpenAI's API that inexpensively automate almost every HR task. The following seventy-five or so examples of what AI will likely do for HR soon are eye-opening, if not chilling, for the industry, managers and employees. I have broken the list of 75 ways AI could act as HR down into what will become widely adopted by both employees and employers and what will become controversial, loathed by either employers or employees and perhaps never adopted by mainstream companies. 

AI HR Roles That Will Become Non-Controversial and Will Be Adapted Widely 

1. Automating repetitive tasks: AI-powered tools can handle mundane tasks such as data entry for expense tracking. AI actually helped me write this blog post. I asked Chat GPT to make bold all the words before the colons instead of doing that myself in Microsoft Word. It also suggested half the ways AI would change HR for this blog post, which shows that AI isn't perfect. I was able to think of dozens of ways AI could help HR that even AI could not think up (I asked it for 200 ways AI will help HR). As another example as to why AI is not perfect for automating tasks is that it responded a few times with the same ways AI could act as AI, but in different words. For example, it said AI could be used to create employee surveys about four different times in four different sentences.
2. Resume screening: AI can quickly parse through large volumes of resumes, identifying the best candidates based on predefined criteria. This has already been happening for years. 
3. Candidate ranking: AI algorithms can rank job applicants based on their skills and experience, helping recruiters prioritize their efforts.
4. Predictive analytics: AI can analyze historical data to identify patterns and trends, helping companies make more informed decisions regarding recruitment, talent management, and workforce planning.
5. Chatbots: AI-powered chatbots can answer simple employee queries and provide real-time assistance; for example, it could answer in a browser, "What day is the all-hands meeting?".
6. Onboarding assistance: AI can streamline the onboarding process by providing new hires with personalized information, resources, and checklists to ensure a smooth transition into the company.
7. Performance management: AI can monitor employee performance and provide real-time feedback.
8. Learning and development: AI can curate personalized learning paths based on an individual's skills, interests, and career aspirations, enhancing employee development.
9. Diversity and inclusion: AI can help organizations identify and address potential biases in the hiring process, fostering a more inclusive workforce.
10. Compensation and benefits analysis: AI can analyze market data to help employers make informed decisions about competitive compensation and benefits packages.
11. Employee retention: AI can identify early warning signs of employee turnover, allowing employers to address potential issues and retain top talent proactively.
12. Workforce planning: AI can analyze workforce trends and predict future staffing needs, ensuring organizations are equipped to meet changing business demands.
13. Talent acquisition: AI can identify passive candidates who may be a good fit for open positions, expanding the talent pool and increasing the chances of finding the right candidate.
14. Job description optimization: AI can analyze job descriptions and suggest improvements to make them more appealing and practical for attracting suitable candidates. Note: our company, goHeather, is working on a free app that does this. 
15. Career pathing: AI can help employees visualize their potential career paths within the organization, supporting employee retention and growth.
16. Employee sentiment analysis: AI can analyze employee feedback and communication patterns to gauge overall sentiment and identify potential areas of concern.
17. Gamification: AI can incorporate gamified elements into HR processes, such as recruitment and training, to increase engagement and motivation.
18. Document Review: Ai can review bulk uploads of documents in transactions and litigations for risk, privilege, relevancy and key info.
19. Employee wellness: AI can analyze employee behavior patterns and provide personalized recommendations for improving physical and mental well-being.
20. Attendance tracking: AI can automatically track employee hours, streamlining the process of monitoring attendance.
21. Remote work management: AI can support remote work arrangements by monitoring productivity and providing virtual collaboration tools. 
22. Employee recognition: AI can analyze employee performance data and recommend personalized recognition and rewards.
23. HR analytics: AI can process and analyze vast amounts of HR data to generate actionable insights and inform decision-making.
24. Employee skills assessment: AI can evaluate employees' skills and competencies, helping organizations identify skills gaps and target learning and development initiatives.
25. Recruitment marketing: AI can automate recruitment marketing efforts, reaching potential candidates more efficiently.
26. Exit interviews: AI can analyze exit interview data to identify trends and areas for improvement, helping organizations retain top talent.
27. AI-powered surveys: AI can create and analyze employee surveys, providing HR professionals with valuable feedback on employee satisfaction, engagement, and other vital metrics.
28. Bias detection: AI can detect and mitigate unconscious biases in HR processes, promoting equity in the workplace.
29. Workforce risk management: AI can predict and mitigate potential risks to the workforce, such as safety hazards or employee burnout.
30. Background checks: AI can streamline the background check process, reducing the time and effort required to verify candidate information.
31. Employee resource allocation: AI can optimize resource allocation by analyzing employee skills, availability, and project requirements.
32. Employee productivity tracking: AI can monitor and analyze employee productivity data, helping organizations identify areas for improvement and optimize workflows.
33. Predictive workforce attrition: AI can predict which employees are at risk of leaving the organization and suggest targeted retention strategies.
34. Language translation: AI can provide real-time language translation, facilitating employer-employee communication among a diverse, global workforce.
35. Freelancer management: AI can help organizations manage and integrate freelancers into their workforce, optimizing the use of contingent labor.
36. Virtual reality training: AI can create immersive virtual reality training experiences, helping employees develop new skills and adapt to changing job requirements.
37. Workforce upskilling: AI can identify the skills employees need to succeed in the future and recommend targeted learning and development programs.
38. Shift scheduling: AI can optimize shift scheduling, considering employee preferences, availability, and business needs.
39. Payroll processing: AI can automate payroll processing, reducing errors and ensuring timely and accurate payments to employees.
40. Benefits administration: AI can streamline benefits administration, making it easier for employees to enrol in and manage their benefits packages.
41. Corporate social responsibility: AI can help organizations track and measure their social and environmental impact, supporting their corporate social responsibility initiatives.
42. Customized job recommendations: AI can analyze employee profiles and preferences to suggest relevant job opportunities within the organization.
43. Employee feedback analysis: AI can analyze open-ended employee feedback, identifying trends and themes that can inform HR strategy.
44. Organizational design: AI can help HR professionals optimize organizational structure and reporting relationships to improve efficiency.
45. Labor market analysis: AI can analyze labor market data to inform workforce planning and talent acquisition strategies.
46. Candidate experience optimization: AI can help organizations create a seamless and engaging candidate experience, from the initial job application to the final offer.
47. Workforce forecasting: AI can predict future workforce needs, helping organizations plan for growth and change.
48. Employee performance benchmarking: AI can analyze employee performance data to establish benchmarks and identify best practices.
49. Contingent workforce management: AI can help organizations manage and optimize their use of contingent labor, including freelancers and temporary workers.
50. HR policy creation: AI can draft HR policies that are simple and wouldn't require a lawyer or experienced HR person to create anyway, like, for example, a simple science-backed policy on washing your hands for restaurants. However, more complicated HR policies will not be created by AI because of the risk of wrongly written policies, for example, a bonus plan or an accessibility policy.
51. HR policy optimization: AI can analyze the effectiveness of HR policies and suggest improvements to better align with organizational goals. 
52. Time-off management: AI can streamline time-off requests and approvals, ensuring employees can easily manage their time away from work and employers can track and react to time-off requests so there is no loss in productivity.
53. Training content curation: AI can curate relevant training materials and resources, ensuring employees can access the information they need to succeed.
54. Competency modelling: AI can help organizations develop and maintain competency models, providing a clear framework for employee performance and development.
55. Talent intelligence: AI can analyze employee data to generate insights into the organization's talent landscape, informing talent management and workforce planning strategies.
56. Employee pulse surveys: AI can design and administer pulse surveys, providing real-time insights into employee sentiment and engagement.
57. Work-life balance: AI can analyze employee work patterns and suggest strategies for promoting a healthy work-life balance.
58. Recruitment advertising: AI can automate recruitment advertising efforts, ensuring organizations reach suitable candidates with the right message.
59. Performance review automation: AI can automate the performance review process, reducing administrative burdens and promoting more consistent and objective evaluations.
60. Job analysis: AI can analyze job roles and requirements to inform job descriptions, competency models, and training programs.
61. Employee turnover prediction: AI can predict employee turnover, allowing organizations to address retention issues proactively
62. HR data security: AI can enhance data security measures, protecting sensitive employee information from unauthorized access and potential breaches.
63. Workforce agility: AI can help organizations create more agile workforce structures, enabling them to quickly adapt to changing business needs.
64. HR knowledge management: AI can help organizations manage and leverage their HR knowledge and resources, ensuring HR professionals can access the information they need to succeed.
65. Talent pool analysis: AI can analyze an organization's talent pool, identifying potential skills gaps and informing talent acquisition and development strategies.
66. HR helpdesk automation: AI can streamline HR helpdesk operations, enabling HR professionals to address employee inquiries and concerns more efficiently.
67. Remote work optimization: AI can help organizations optimize remote work practices, ensuring remote employees stay productive.
68. Contract reviews. Already, goHeather has an app that uses AI to review a contract like an employment contract or independent contractor agreement.
    

AI HR Roles That Will Become Controversial or Nonsensical and May Never Be Adapted 

1. Union avoidance: AI can help organizations identify employee advocates for unions or other behaviour that predicts a union drive.
2. Employee tracking: AI can analyze employee productivity and identify potential areas for improvement.
3. Termination decisions: Using historical data and knowledge of industry standards competency, AI could decide which employees should be terminated in a mass layoff, for example. Still, it could happen.
4. Virtual interviews: AI-powered video interviewing platforms can streamline the interview process, making it more efficient for both recruiters and candidates.
5. Compliance management: AI can help HR professionals monitor and maintain compliance with local, state, and federal employment and labor laws and regulations. The issue with this is that AI is not a very good lawyer - they hallucinate laws, do not have knowledge of changed laws and are not very good at recognizing differences in local laws. 
6. Critical HR document creation: AI makes a lot of mistakes writing key HR documents like enforceable local employment contracts; thus, an AI won't be drafting these documents on its own. Instead, AI could assist companies in coming up with suggestions or partial text for these documents, which our company, goHeather, is working on. 
7. Virtual career fairs: AI can facilitate virtual career fairs, broadening the reach of recruitment efforts and enabling organizations to connect with a broader pool of candidates.
8. Employee wellness program customization: AI can personalize employee wellness programs, ensuring employees receive the support and resources they need to maintain their well-being.
9. Candidate relationship management: AI can help organizations maintain relationships with potential candidates, keeping them engaged and informed about future job opportunities.
10. Employee assistance chatbots: AI can power chatbots that provide support and resources to employees facing personal or professional challenges, enhancing employee well-being.
11. Workplace culture assessment: AI can assess an organization's culture and provide recommendations for improvement, fostering a more positive work environment.
12. AI-powered coaching: AI can provide personalized coaching and support to employees, promoting professional development and growth.

There is no doubt AI will disrupt the HR industry. While some AI HR roles will be welcomed, others will be fought back. The best bet for HR managers in the meantime is to begin to learn about AI, and for that, I would recommend playing around with Chat GPT or even making your own Chat GPT-powered HR app, both of which are free to try.