There’s a lot of chatter on LinkedIn lately about how HR needs to be “AI fluent.” It sounds urgent. Strategic. Maybe even inevitable. It’s also mostly nonsense.
The people pushing this idea often mean well. They want human resources and talent-focused professionals to understand how large language models (LLMs), automation, and predictive tools might reshape hiring, engagement, and performance. Fine. But “fluency” is the wrong word and the wrong goal.
The truth is that much of this tech is built on outdated ideas about work, faulty assumptions about users, and fantasies about what HR is even supposed to do. Most of it will be obsolete in two years.
So, instead of chasing fluency, here’s what HR professionals should focus on.
Start with literacy.
Fluency implies mastery. It implies confidence in systems that don’t deserve it yet. Most HR tech vendors can’t explain how their models were trained or why they behave the way they do. And most HR departments are still doing the essential work of processing payroll, managing benefits, and staying compliant. What you can do is get literate.
Understand the basics. Know how these models work, where bias creeps in, and why AI hallucinations aren’t bugs—they’re features. Learn what questions to ask when a vendor shows up with a solution that seems too good to be true.
Speaking of questions, ask better ones.
Every vendor has a slick demo. Every investor deck shows a productivity chart pointing up and to the right. Your job is to push past the performance and get to what really matters: how this helps your organization achieve its goals.
Ask the technology company: What data is this trained on? How do you define success? What happens when it fails? Who gets hurt if it doesn’t work as promised?
Then ask your company the harder questions: Are we using this tech to improve employee experience or improve workforce performance, or are we just trying to cut costs? Are we serious about making work better, or are we chasing efficiency at the expense of trust?
Also, watch what the tech does.
It’s crucial to see the platforms and tools in use rather than just relying on what the marketing claims they can do. This principle holds true for all technology throughout human history.
Does it reduce bias or bury it deeper? Does it support your people or sideline them? Does it help someone do their job better, faster, or with more clarity? If not, walk away. Real innovation solves real problems. Most of these tools are just dressed-up dashboards, and dashboards don’t change culture.
And here’s the final, uncomfortable truth.
Many companies are laying off employees and blaming AI for these decisions. They claim it’s about transformation or innovation, but what they really mean is cutting staff to reduce labor costs. This money is then reinvested into AI products and services, rather than in hiring “human workers who understand AI.”
HR gets pulled in to soften the language, draft the messaging, and frame it as a future-focused strategy. But behind every “streamlining” and “restructuring” is a human being who lost their job because a senior leader bought a tool that sucks up a lot of energy with no plan for integration or long-term impact.
So, name it. Don’t hide behind buzzwords. Don’t pretend this is about career mobility or skill adjacency when it’s about budget cuts and optics. If your company is sick of expensive workers and prefers expensive AI tools, let’s be honest about it.
My final take!
HR doesn’t need AI fluency. It needs critical thinking, courage, and integrity. It needs leaders who understand the tools, question the marketing materials, and refuse to rubber-stamp layoffs disguised as progress.
That’s not resistance. That’s leadership.