From headlines about generative AI to new features popping up in your HRIS, Artificial Intelligence is everywhere. And let's be honest, the conversation is a mix of excitement, confusion, and maybe even a little anxiety.
When you're busy managing open enrollment, handling employee relations, and trying to fill open roles, it's hard to find time to become an expert on machine learning. You're hearing that it will change everything, but what does that actually mean for your day-to-day work?
Most articles on the subject of AI are either too technical or too abstract. They don't answer the practical, on-the-ground questions that HR leaders are asking in meetings and quietly searching for online. At Bennie, we talk to HR leaders every day who are trying to navigate this new landscape, and today we're cutting through the noise by providing clear, practical answers to the top five questions we hear most.
1. Will AI Take Our Jobs?
This is often the first question on everyone's mind, and it's a valid one.
The short answer is no. AI is not likely to replace the HR profession. Instead, it will augment it. Think of it as a powerful assistant that automates the administrative, repetitive parts of your job, freeing you up to do the work that only a human can do.
The fear is understandable; a smart algorithm that could one day manage payroll, screen resumes, and answer policy questions could make the human HR team obsolete. This anxiety affects not only your own career path but also your team's morale.
But here's the reality: AI is very good at processing massive amounts of data and automating rules-based tasks. It's not good at empathy, complex problem-solving, ethical judgment, or building workplace culture. The future of HR with AI isn't about less human involvement, it's about more strategic human involvement.
Before AI: You spend hours manually screening 300 resumes for a single position.
After AI: An AI tool sorts those 300 resumes in minutes, flagging the top 20 candidates based on your core requirements. You spend your time on high-quality interviews and building relationships with the best candidates.
Before AI: You manually pull data from three different systems to build a quarterly turnover report.
After AI: An AI-powered dashboard analyzes retention data in real-time and flags that your sales department has a 30% higher-than-average turnover rate among employees with less than one year of service. You spend your time investigating why and developing a targeted retention plan with sales leadership.
Research from SHRM confirms this shift. The consensus is that AI will handle the tasks, allowing HR professionals to focus on the people and the high-level strategy. When your HR team is no longer buried in paperwork, they become a high-impact strategic partner. This leads to better hiring (more time with qualified candidates), higher retention (proactive, data-driven strategies instead of reactive ones), and stronger culture (bandwidth to focus on engagement and career development).
2. Where Can We Actually Use AI Right Now?
AI can feel abstract, but many HR automation tools are already using it in very practical ways. A 2024 Forbes Advisor survey found that 73% of businesses are either currently using or plan to use AI for HR functions.
Here are the three most common and effective ways HR teams are using AI today.
Recruiting and Talent Acquisition
This is the most mature area for AI in HR recruiting. The sheer volume of data and repetitive tasks in hiring make it a perfect fit.
Automated resume screening: AI tools can scan thousands of resumes to find candidates who match the specific, objective criteria you set for a role. This cuts down on manual review time from days to minutes.
Candidate sourcing: AI can search platforms like LinkedIn and other job boards to find passive candidates who fit your needs but aren't actively applying.
Interview scheduling: Chatbots can automate the back-and-forth of scheduling interviews, syncing with both the candidate's and the hiring manager's calendars.
Job description optimization: Some tools can analyze your job descriptions and suggest changes to remove biased language or make them more appealing to your target candidates.
Employee Onboarding and Support
Think about how many times a new hire (or even a veteran employee) asks the same questions: "Where do I find the holiday schedule?" "How do I submit an expense report?" "What's our WFH policy?"
AI-powered chatbots: A chatbot integrated into your intranet or communication platform (like Slack or Teams) can provide instant answers to these common questions. This frees up your HR team from being a simple "answer desk."
Onboarding workflows: AI can help personalize the onboarding experience. For example, it can automatically schedule check-in meetings, send reminders for benefits enrollment, and deliver relevant training modules based on the new hire's role.
Just as platforms like Bennie provide employees with on-demand access to benefits experts for quick answers, an internal chatbot can provide that same level of instant support for company policies, empowering employees and saving HR time.
Data Analysis for Engagement and Retention
HR departments are sitting on a mountain of data: engagement surveys, exit interviews, performance reviews, and benefits usage. AI is incredibly good at finding patterns in that data that a human might miss.
Analyzing engagement surveys: Instead of just looking at percentages, AI can analyze the written comments from surveys to identify common themes and sentiments.
Predicting turnover: By analyzing factors like time since last promotion, compensation relative to market, and engagement scores, some AI tools can identify employees who are at high risk of leaving. This allows you to intervene before they resign.
Personalizing learning: AI can recommend specific training and development courses to employees based on their role, performance goals, and career aspirations.
Using AI in these areas saves enormous amounts of administrative time, translating to lower cost-per-hire, faster time-to-fill, and a smoother onboarding experience. The data analysis side provides the insights you need to make smarter, more strategic decisions about your workforce.
3. What Are the Biggest Ethical Concerns?
With new power comes new responsibility, and HR leaders are rightly concerned about the risks of AI. The primary concerns fall into two categories: bias and privacy.
How do we know the AI isn't just replicating the same human biases we're trying to eliminate? And how much data are we collecting on our employees, and what are we doing with it? Addressing these concerns head-on is the only way to build trust with both leadership and employees.
Algorithmic Bias
The biggest ethical trap is bias in AI hiring. An AI is only as good as the data it's trained on. If your company's past hiring data shows you primarily hired men for leadership roles, an AI trained on that data will adopt that bias and screen out qualified female candidates.
You cannot set-it-and-forget-it. HR must be involved to provide the humanity necessary for this process, and this means regularly auditing your AI tools. Ask vendors tough questions: What data was your model trained on? How do you test for and mitigate bias? Your AI should assist your decision, not make it. As SHRM points out, HR's role is to ensure these tools are used fairly and to challenge their outputs.
Employee Privacy
The second major concern is data privacy. AI tools, especially those that monitor productivity or analyze employee communications, collect a lot of data.
Transparency is non-negotiable. You must have a clear and easily understood data privacy policy. Employees have a right to know what data is being collected, why it's being collected, and how it's being used. Failing to do this destroys trust and can even lead to legal trouble. Laws like New York City's Local Law 144 now regulate the use of automated employment decision tools, requiring bias audits and public transparency.
By proactively addressing ethics, you don't just avoid lawsuits. You build psychological safety and trust. When employees trust that AI is being used fairly and to help them, not to "catch" them, they're more likely to embrace the new technology. This leads to better adoption, higher morale, and a stronger employer brand.
4. What's a Realistic First Step for a Small Team?
If you're an HR team of one, two, or even five people, the idea of launching a massive AI initiative is laughable. You don't have a team of data scientists or a million-dollar budget.
Small HR teams often feel they'll be left behind because they lack the time, budget, and technical expertise to experiment with AI. But the answer is simpler than you think: start small and focus on a single, nagging problem. Don't try to build your own AI; leverage the AI that's already built into the tools you're considering.
Identify your single biggest administrative bottleneck:
Is it interview scheduling? Implement a low-cost scheduling tool that uses AI to find times for everyone. This is a low-risk, high-reward automation.
Is it answering repetitive questions? Add a simple chatbot for your company's intranet. Many modern HRIS platforms offer this as an add-on.
Is it screening resumes? Trial the AI-powered screening feature that's likely already included in your Applicant Tracking System.
You don't need a custom-built solution. The goal is to get a quick win that saves your team 5-10 hours a week.
Starting small does two things. First, it delivers an immediate return on investment by freeing up valuable time. Second, it helps you and your team build AI literacy. You learn how these tools work on a small scale, so you can make smarter decisions as you consider larger implementations down the road.
5. How Do We Prepare Our Workforce for an AI-Powered Future?
This question brings us full circle. Once you start implementing AI, how do you manage the change and address the very fears we discussed in question one?
If you suddenly roll out a new AI tool without context, employees will fill the information void with their worst fears. They'll assume it's a spy tool or the first step toward replacing them. This creates resistance, hurts morale, and kills adoption. HR must lead the conversation with transparency and a focus on upskilling.
Communicate Transparently
Be radically open about why you're using an AI tool.
Bad communication: "We are implementing a new automated workflow system starting Monday." (Causes panic)
Good communication: "We know everyone is frustrated with how long it takes to get expenses approved. We're adopting a new tool that uses AI to scan receipts and approve them faster, so you get reimbursed in days, not weeks. This also frees up the finance team to focus on more complex budget work." (Shows the benefit)
Focus on Upskilling
The conversation shouldn't be about jobs being eliminated, but about jobs evolving. As AI handles more of the technical and repetitive tasks, human skills become more valuable than ever. The most important skills in an AI-powered world are:
Critical thinking and judgment: Knowing when to question or override an AI's recommendation
Emotional intelligence and empathy: Managing relationships, which AI cannot do
Strategic planning: Seeing the big picture and making complex decisions
Creativity: Thinking outside the box to solve novel problems
HR can lead the charge by shifting learning and development budgets toward programs that build these capabilities.
A workforce that understands why AI is being used is less fearful and more likely to adopt it. By investing in upskilling, you create a more adaptable, resilient, and future-proof workforce. This reduces change-related friction and positions your company as an employer that invests in its people's growth.
Navigating the Future with a Human-First Focus
AI is a powerful tool, but it's just that: a tool. It's not a strategy, a culture, or a replacement for human connection. Its real impact, positive or negative, will depend entirely on how we choose to use it.
For HR leaders, the challenge and the opportunity are to guide this implementation with a human-first mindset. Use technology to make work better, more efficient, and more engaging, so you can focus on what matters most: your people.
From new technology to evolving employee expectations around benefits, navigating all this change can feel overwhelming. At Bennie, we believe technology should enhance the human experience, not replace it. Our platform simplifies benefits and centralizes all your employee programs, while our Ask Bennie team provides on-demand, expert support. We're here to help you streamline the administrative side of HR so you can confidently lead your team into the future. Book your demo today!
