Artificial Intelligence in Personnel Management: Opportunities and Challenges to the Higher Education Sector (HES)

Drawing on multi-disciplinary literature, this conceptual article provides an integrative review of AI’s applicability in personnel management. Prior studies indicate that AI has the ability to change the ownership and responsibility for managerial decision making, information accumulation and strategic management. Following this line of research, we review the literature of AI and discuss its application in personnel management, particularly from the context of Higher Education Sector (HES). We draw insights from three theoretical perspectives (job replacement, psychological contract and demands-resources), aiming to understand the influence of AI-driven management on the organizations, managers and employees. Specifically, two questions are proposed and critically discussed. First, what might be the opportunities and challenges of AI-driven management? Second, how AI-driven policies could be implemented to the personnel management? Based on the analysis of theoretical perspectives and empirical research findings, we have learnt that managers’ attitude is crucial to the implementation of AI in personnel management, leading to different organizational outcomes. If not handled well, AI-driven management may cause job insecurity and dissatisfaction to the employees. Research findings has brought new insights into the AI-management literature and clarified AI’s applicability in HES. Implications for future studies are discussed.