AI in the Context of OCB: One Step Forward or Two Steps Back?

Human resource management (HRM) is a paramount body of any working organization. The tasks and activities associated with HRM are more important than ever before in current times. With major technological advances related to artificial intelligence (AI), the inclusion of techniques based on AI is becoming increasingly common in human resource tasks. Smart automation technologies based on machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) constitute a new approach to managing employees as well as other resources. These technologies result in enhanced organizational performance, thus offering several opportunities for HRM and at the same time, considerable challenges at a technological and ethical level. In the context of OCB, machine learning-based solutions could assist organizations to identify the appropriate candidates at the recruitment stage itself. However, a special issue faced in the context of OCB as a construct emerges since they are behaviours that are not formally recognized in the usual reward system. Building algorithms and providing accurate and representative training data may pose significant challenges. This chapter provides readers with an overview of the contemporary applications of AI in HRM. The benefits and limitations of some of these especially in the context of OCB are discussed.