How HR Uses AI in 2025

Whether you love, hate, or could care less about AI, the hype continues in HR.

In a recent study, the SHRM published 2025 Talent Trends - AI in HR

In the lead paragraph they mention that publicly traded companies lead the way on AI adoption at 58%, followed by private companies at 45%.

"Since publicly traded organizations are held to defined profit-margin and revenue targets, their higher AI adoption suggests they see HR automation and innovation as critical enablers for meeting financial goals."

Does this mean that publicly traded companies are smarter than everybody else? And should we follow the advice of the SHRM in adopting AI to "help align people's strategies with broader organizational objectives, driving efficiency and competitive advantage"?

Maybe?

What I find more valuable however is how HR is using AI:

• 66% To generate job descriptions
• 44% To review or screen applicant resumes
• 32% To automate candidate searches
• 31% To customize or target job postings to specific groups
• 29% To communicate with applicants during the interview process

Those are definitely interesting ways of filling jobs at your company, all that work can be done in minutes... I'm guessing.

But why stop there? Why not let AI decide who gets the job, it's way too hard to do this yourself. Unless of course you are hiring a relative, for that you would probably unplug the machine for a minute.

Sorry, I digress.

Anyhow, the study goes on to say using AI "can allow HR to focus more of their attention on high-value tasks that matter most." Which I hope is true.

But for the record, there is probably a reason why 42% of publicly traded companies have not adopted AI yet.

Maybe like me, they find the whole thing hilarious.