Ethical Concerns Upon Artificial Intelligence Empowered Human Resource Management: A Qualitative Study among Middle-level Managers from Beijing Technology Companies

The evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) in organizational management has significantly enhanced operational efficiency. However, it has introduced ethical challenges in human resource management. Between January to March 2024, this study conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with middle-level managers from high-tech companies in Beijing. Through word frequency analysis, the study found that key topics among the managers were “company,” “data,” “system,” and “problem,” with “AI” frequently recurring in the discussions. Sentiment analysis revealed generally favorable attitudes toward AI in human resource management (AI-HRM), along with nuanced emotional expressions such as inquiry, introspection, recommendation, challenge, adaptation, resistance, and indifference. The sentiment distribution of keywords aligned with topic trends. Thematic analysis identified key ethical concerns in AI-HRM, including issues related to data collection and utilization, human versus machine decision-making, quantitative versus qualitative assessment methodologies, the balance between fairness and efficiency, the need for trustworthy, explainable, and transparent AI, and the oversight of AI-HRM. This study contributes to the ethical investigation of AI-HRM from the perspective of middle-level managers, highlighting themes that are critical for understanding the theory, application, and future development of AI-HRM.