Keywords: Artificial intelligence, Human resource and AI, Artificial intelligence and recruitment, SMART HR, smart people analytics, machine learning “The science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs”—According to the father of Artificial Intelligence, John McCarthy [1]
3.1 Introduction
It seems like the world of fairy tales where the works are done with a whirl of wand or rather via click on fairies like smart machines. It is the world of magical performance with unseen possibilities. It is the time of working smart rather than working hard. It is the time when machines in collaboration with the human are working hand to hand to ease the work and hence to increase the productivity. Use of machines with human help is not a new idea or a thought, way back with the use of simple computer till Hi-Fi gadgets like laptops, and employees are rather habitual of working with machines. But as a limit, machines can only provide the clerical assistance or do the work related with documentation, writing or securing the data. To make even this possible and to prove that sky is not the limit, the concept of AI is slowly creeping in to HR.
In the midst of the upcoming technologies, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the new dimension which could be better defined as the Processing Human Intelligence by Advanced Machines. In the age of new advanced computers, the world has changed drastically. Now, it is not only the money and the management required to run the organization successfully, but the combination of people, process, and performance with the use of technology has become the essential ingredients of successful business recipe.
The use of AI is not limited to the Information Technology sector only but has laid its different wings toward the medical, education, business, automotive vehicles, etc. Customer is the king always, and keeping that fact in mind, the AI has also helped the businesses to enrich its CRM to serve the customer better by going through its past shopping history and serving the best at its end. It has also enabled the HR to reduce its task repetition and by saving the data on the cloud for the future use and security.
AI in HR has also enabled the managers to work efficiently by starting from the smart people analytics to the team training and hiring, the AI in HR also dealing with the data transactions and limiting the repetitive work and low value task.
Present chapter focuses on the use of AI in HR as AI and HR are now going together to manage the human as the resource and are enabling the organizations to help out in reducing the carbon footprint.
People and learning machines are working each other to deliver enriched experience for the working platform. The use of computer-based logical and algorithm is proposing better experience to the HR managers to perform the task more effectively and efficiently. The accomplishment of any link lies upon how adequately it links people, process, and technology to execute the HR work at advance level.
AI innovations have significantly changed the HR working; it has not only enhanced the working but also made the recruitment, selection, training, retaining, and developing of the employees more easy and advanced. As righty said by Tata 2018, the ability of the AI lies in providing a “novel cognitive respective” that may be fruitfully used in managing the challenges in satisfying the stakeholders and shareholder and keeping both of them happy together. It is the time humanity focusing upon reaching at the Zenith of efficacy and efficiency of doing the business in better way. It is the time where the focus is upon reducing the human interface and depending upon the machines for more structured way of working.
HRs do believe that combining AI into HR organization would improve the performance and productivity of the organization. It would also give greater edge, extra time, and payments plan and gradually exact data for more accurate decisions.
3.2 Problem Recognition
52% of the HR hunters accept that most typical part of the recruitment is accessing the worth of the right applicant for the right job from the pool of the applicants.
Finding the right candidate from the pool of resumes for the particular position is another tough job of avoiding the fitting of square into hole.
Once the employees are on the board, the next hard task is to let them fit in the profile with the adequate training and instructions.
To lead the employee throughout his career is also another difficult task, as a star employee may become the NPA without any obvious reason or may quit the organization without any specification. So, the retention also becomes the reclusive task.
Succession planning or the promotion may also become imperative for the right candidate, and HR sometimes may not judge the right talent and may lose the right talent by misfit promotion or posting.
Survey done by the Delottie (Figure 3.1) [2] found that most of the HR and employees waste their time in the different office activities like 82% of the time in paperwork, 79% in scheduling, 78% in timesheets, 69% in keeping the accounts of different activities, 60% in performing other HR functions, and 60% in emails.
Figure 3.1 The wastage of time in the duplication of work.
Note: It is showing the percentage of time wastage in the duplication of work. Source: Image courtesy of PWC Consumer Intelligence.
The study shows that such wastage of time in repetitive tasks can be eliminated and the saved time can be further invested in self-development and learning. The Figure 3.1 shows the findings of the research and the wastage of the time in the duplication of the low volume task and work.
3.3 Journey of AI in HR “From Where Till What”
Advent of electronic computers in 1941 opened the successful use of machine in humans’ day-to-day activity. The early research in 1949 showed the possibility of using the stored data in Machines, and by the late 1950, the link between the Human intelligence and stored information was established. By the initiation of Norbert Wiener, it was found that showing intelligence was the outcome of the mechanism of feedback system that was easy to read by the smart Machines. In 1955, Newell and Simon created “The Logic Theorist” which was the first of its kind AI program. Later, John McCarthy coined the term AI. Slowly and steadily, it creeps into the professional world and became a part and parcel of day-to-day life. As per the survey done by various firms, it is found that AI in HR is gaining tremendous growth, and organizations are adopting it.
Figure 3.2 Use of AI in HR. Oracle AI usage in different business functions, showing the % of respondents. Source: McKinsey.
According to the Ji-A Min [3], today, 38% of the organizations are already using the AI and 62% are expecting to start using the AI for day-to-day work by the end of this year.
Another survey done by Johbersin of Delottie in their survey Delottie Human Capital trends found that 33% of the employees hope that their job would become better by the use of AI in near future. The study shows that AI and robotics are in flowing faster in the lives of the humans as before. The research was carried out on 10,400 respondents of 104 companies and 38% of the employees believe that AI with the help of robotics and animation would be fully implemented