With companies continuing to shrink or outsource their human resources departments, it is tempting to augment that traditional business function with artificial intelligence. Data science holds so much promise for other fields that it makes sense for algorithms to replace imperfect human decision-making for hiring, firing, scheduling and promoting. But new research from Wharton professors Peter Cappelli and Prasanna “Sonny” Tambe flashes a cautionary yellow light on using AI in human resources. In their paper, “Artificial Intelligence in Human Resources Management: Challenges and a Path Forward,” the professors show how limited data, the complexity of HR tasks, fairness and accountability pose problems for digital HR. The study, which was co-authored by Valery Yakubovich, professor at ESSEC Business School and senior fellow at the Wharton Center for Human Resources, also looks at how to remedy those problems. Cappelli and Tambe spoke about their research with Knowledge@Wharton.
