This article examines how generative artificial intelligence (GAI), when embedded in platform-based HR systems, changes the nature of empowerment in human resource management.
The article develops a conceptual framework combining insights from critical management studies, platform governance and HRM literature. It introduces a three-part empowerment model: instrumental, relational and structural.
GAI appears to empower HR professionals by improving efficiency and personalization. However, when implemented through platform infrastructures, it often reduces human discretion, obscures decision logic and shifts control to external systems. This leads to a condition of pseudo-empowerment.
This study reframes digital empowerment as a contested and layered process. It highlights the hidden power dynamics behind AI adoption in HR and offers a theoretical model to explain how GAI reprograms six core HRM functions.
