Human resource management practices for ethical AI governance and their links to perceived ethical AI implementation and employee well-being

The swift emergence and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) at workplaces have created unparalleled opportunities for organizational agility and competitiveness. However, these opportunities have also been accompanied by numerous ethical issues that arise due to deploying AI at work, such as fairness, transparency, accountability, privacy, and employee well-being. This study focuses on exploring human resource management (HRM) practices influence on ethical AI governance and how ethical AI governance impacts Perceived Ethical AI Implementation, trust in AI, employee well-being, and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) workplace outcomes. The study introduces and tests a structural model grounded in socio-technical systems theory and social exchange theory. Using a cross-sectional study design, the data were collected from 457 employees working in information technology workplaces in Hyderabad, India. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach was used to analyze the study data with IBM AMOS 28 software. The study results revealed that HRM practices for ethical AI governance significantly predict Perceived Ethical AI Implementation and employees trust in AI. Employees Perceived Ethical AI Implementation and trust in AI positively predict employees well-being, and employee well-being is positively associated with SDG workplace outcomes. Employees trust in AI partially mediates the relationship between HRM practices for ethical AI governance and employee well-being. This study makes several contributions to the limited literature on ethical AI governance by theoretically integrating and empirically testing several vital concepts like HRM practices, employee well-being, trust in AI, Perceived Ethical AI Implementation, and sustainability outcomes within one framework. Practically, this study’s results can help managers and policymakers understand how to engage in responsible AI governance that facilitates desirable employee experiences at work.