Human resource professionals who refuse to embrace artificial intelligence risk being left behind as technology increasingly transforms workplace management, HR professional Peter Yao Bosrotsi has warned.

Bosrotsi, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Human Resource Management, Ghana, said AI should be viewed as a tool for improving efficiency rather than as a threat to HR professionals.

Speaking on Asaase Radio’s Townhall Talk on Friday (14 August), he said he already used AI extensively in his HR work, including in developing policies and curricula.

He cited his work with a tertiary institution where he used AI platforms to help develop an HR curriculum.

According to him, AI provided an initial framework that allowed him to complete the assignment more efficiently, although he subsequently reviewed the material and defended it before a committee.

“I was pleasantly surprised at what it gave me,” he said.

Bosrotsi compared the resistance to AI with earlier transitions from walking to horses and eventually automobiles, arguing that technological progress should be embraced when it improves efficiency.

“AI, that’s the way we’re going now,” he said.

He said AI was also being used in his organisation’s talent-management processes, including succession planning and performance assessment.

According to him, the organisation is developing a system that will allow its chief executive to query employee-performance data and identify workers based on performance and potential.

He said employees were assessed using a “nine box” performance-versus-potential framework, allowing management to identify high performers, workers requiring support and employees placed on performance improvement plans.

Bosrotsi said AI had given HR professionals the ability to complete some tasks in hours that previously could have taken considerably longer.

He also urged older professionals not to view their experience as a disadvantage in the AI era.

Rather, he said, professionals with years of experience could combine that institutional knowledge with new technology.

“We have the past as an advantage,” he said, arguing that experienced workers could use their knowledge of previous workplace practices while adapting to emerging technologies.

His comments form part of a broader discussion about the impact of AI on recruitment, performance management, employee engagement and workforce development.