Human Resources, Non-Human Decisions: The Uneven Future of AI at Work
AI brings many great things to the workplace table, like bringing down costs and driving efficiency. Despite this, its acceptance teeters a fine line, varying by a given tool’s domain and function. Research from the Journal of Economic Psychology finds that AI is consistently less accepted in human resources departments than in finance or marketing, with support falling sharply once AI systems begin making decisions without human oversight. These findings reveal the boundaries of current organizational readiness for workplace AI.
AI is increasingly embedded in everyday organizational tasks. As a result, significant public debate and academic research centers on how employees or applicants feel about algorithms making the decisions. Yet one crucial perspective remains surprisingly underexamined: do managers actually want AI operating inside their companies?
About the Author
Samantha Lau
Samantha graduated from the University of Toronto, majoring in psychology and criminology. During her undergraduate degree, she studied how mindfulness meditation impacted human memory which sparked her interest in cognition. Samantha is curious about the way behavioural science impacts design, particularly in the UX field. As she works to make behavioural science more accessible with The Decision Lab, she is preparing to start her Master of Behavioural and Decision Sciences degree at the University of Pennsylvania. In her free time, you can catch her at a concert or in a dance studio.
