Naughty or Nice? Which List Did AI Make?
- Mj Eubanks
- Dec 17, 2025
- 4 min read
As we close out another year of rapid technological advancement, there's one guest at the workplace holiday party that's causing quite a stir: Artificial Intelligence (AI). And if we're being honest, AI has found itself on many people's "naughty list" this year. They see a disruptive force threatening the future of work, their livelihood and blurring the lines of professional honesty. I challenge us to look beyond the fear and realize the incredible gift AI offers: the ability to free HR and the entire workforce to be more strategic and profoundly human.
The Fear Factor: Why AI Feels Naughty
The skepticism around AI is real, and it stems from two powerful, interconnected anxieties that HR leaders must address head-on.
Anxiety: Job Elimination
The most dominant fear is that AI is an immediate job-killer. Workers see their tasks being automated and worry that displacement is inevitable. The anxiety is real and understandable. Headlines scream about AI replacing jobs, and water cooler conversations buzz with fears about becoming obsolete. "Will a bot take my job?" has replaced "What's for lunch?" as the pressing question of 2024. This existential dread isn't unfounded—change is uncomfortable, and AI represents seismic change. The reality, according to recent research, is one of job transformation and not job elimination. While millions of jobs have tasks automated, nontechnical barriers like preferences for human interaction and regulatory requirements prevent complete takeover. AI isn't killing jobs; it's changing them, forcing a necessary upskilling to focus on skills like data interpretation, creativity, and emotional intelligence.
Authenticity: Is AI Cheating?
Another challenge is the sense that using AI feels like cheating leading to a breakdown in epistemic trust—the confidence in the authenticity of what you consume. This also fuels the challenge in deciphering between AI-generated content and reality. We're living in an era where distinguishing between human-created and AI-generated content feels like a daily detective game. Is that email from a colleague or ChatGPT? Was that presentation slide deck crafted by the marketing team or conjured by AI? This blurring of lines feels dishonest to many.
AI is Not Cheating—It's Human Amplification
The belief that AI is cheating misses a fundamental truth: AI is an accelerator for cognitive labor. We don’t say using a calculator, spell-check, or Excel formulas is cheating because we call it efficiency. It is simply the next evolution in our toolkit. AI doesn’t replace human judgment, creativity, or strategic thinking—it amplifies them to focus on the truly strategic, uniquely human elements of our work.
For HR, AI accelerates our impact by:
Talent Acquisition: Automating resume screening, initial outreach, and interview scheduling (saving up to 70%$ of time).
Employee Experience: Personalizing learning and development (L&D) paths and quickly answering policy questions with chatbots.
Strategy: Analyzing massive data sets to forecast attrition risk or identify skill gaps, providing the insights needed for strategic workforce planning.
Think of AI as your ultimate efficiency partner. It handles the repetitive, time-consuming tasks that drain your energy for the work that truly matters: building relationships, solving complex problems, and thinking strategically about the future.
You’re Already Using AI
While you still may have your doubts about AI you're already an AI user! AI is embedded in your daily work already making your life easier:
Internet Search: AI instantly predicts and finishes your search query or URL based on past data and aggregates search results.
Email: Your spam filter and smart reply suggestions.
Navigation: Your GPS rerouting you around unexpected traffic.
Performance Tools: Automated grammar and tone suggestions in your document editor.
Hiring: Many Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) use AI to rank candidate fit.
Intentional AI Adoption
The future of work requires us to collaborate with and even embrace AI. Moving from passive consumption to intentional use is how we introduce ease in our lives and free opportunities to be more strategic. AI provides time to think deeply, connect authentically, and work strategically. The fear is natural, but the future doesn't have to be scary.
My GIFT to you: Strategic AI HR Use Recommendations & Tips
🎁 Automate the Ordinary: Start with a "low-hanging fruit" HR process, like automating the first draft of a job description or creating an onboarding checklist. This frees up time for coaching managers and strategic culture-building.
🎁 Roleplay for Empathy: Use generative AI to practice difficult conversations. Prompt: "Act as an employee who has just missed a promotion. Respond in a defensive but disappointed tone. I am the manager—give me three rounds of feedback." This builds managerial confidence and empathy.
🎁 Master the Input, Control the Output: View AI as a brilliant but literal assistant. Always provide a Role (e.g., "Act as a compliance officer"), a Goal, and Constraints (e.g., "Keep it under 300 words and reference our company values"). The more precise your prompt, the more strategic the result.
🎁 Audit for Bias (The Ethical Check): Because AI models can institutionalize bias from their training data, always audit the output. Never let an AI make a final "people decision" (hiring, firing, compensation) without human review and context.
AI is not here to replace the Human Resource—it's here to empower the HR professional to be truly strategic with their time and focus. This is the ultimate gift of efficiency, and that's why AI earns its rightful spot on the Nice List.
Let's keep the conversation going!
Disclosure: As a Digital HR Girl, I practice what I preach! AI was used to accelerate the writing to enhance clarity and efficiency while freeing the author to focus on the strategic insights and final editing. All opinions and strategic recommendations belong to Digital HR Girl.
Very good read!