The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming Human Resource Management (HRM) across the employee lifecycle, including recruitment, selection, learning and development, performance management, employee engagement, workforce planning, and talent retention. Existing discussions frequently emphasize the capacity of AI to automate repetitive activities, improve efficiency, process large volumes of data, and support predictive decision-making. However, the increasing use of algorithmic systems in decisions affecting employees also raises fundamental concerns regarding privacy, bias, transparency, accountability, employee trust, and the potential erosion of human interaction within organizations. This creates an important paradox: technologies introduced to improve HR efficiency may either strengthen or weaken the humancentered nature of HRM. This study examines the question: Can Artificial Intelligence make Human Resource Management more human? The paper adopts an analytical and conceptual research approach based on existing academic literature, institutional publications, and contemporary evidence concerning AI and the future of work. Rather than viewing AI as either a replacement for HR professionals or merely an efficiency-enhancing technology, the study investigates the conditions under which AI can support meaningful human–technology collaboration .The analysis proposes the Human-Centered AI Trust Framework, which argues that the effectiveness of AI-powered HR depends on the interaction between technological capability and five critical governance dimensions: transparency, fairness, privacy, human oversight, and employee trust. The study argues that AI does not inherently humanize or dehumanize HR. Automation can free HR professionals from repetitive administrative activities and create greater capacity for employee interaction, empathy, relationship management, and strategic work. Conversely, poorly governed AI can increase surveillance, reduce trust, reproduce bias, and create impersonal workplaces. The paper concludes that the future of HR should not be understood as a competition between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence. Instead, sustainable HR transformation requires AI systems to be governed by human judgment, ethical responsibility, and employee-centered values. The most successful organizations may therefore be those that use AI not to remove humans from HR, but to enable humans to perform the aspects of HR that require them to be most human.

Ashwini Gajanan Dongarkar, Ketki Khukde, "Beyond Automation: Towards Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence in Human Resource Management" International Journal of Scientific Research and Engineering Development, V9(5): Page(689-694) September - October 2026. ISSN: 2581-7175. www.ijsred.com. Published by Scientific and Academic Research Publishing.