AI for HR Weekly Podcast, brought to you by Barry Phillips
Barry Phillips 119 episodes Nov 4, 2026
A weekly summary of AI developments relevant to HR in no more than 5 minutes, brought to you by Barry Phillips.
Episodes
Growth or Redundancies? The One Question HR Must Answer About AI
This week Barry Phillips looks at the key takeaway for HR from the new AI book everyone is taking about.
Relationslipping: Is AI Making Your People Faster and Your Team Weaker?
This week Barry Phillips looks at research suggesting AI is helping individuals but damaging teams.
Lights, Camera, Nobody
This week Barry Phillips asks whether AI avatars could end endless retakes and help HR deliver clearer, more useful, personalised messages.
AI for HR: "AI Redundancies – Is it “AI Washing” or Something More Serious?"
This week Barry Phillips asks whether we are beginning to see genuine AI redundancies happening in the island of Ireland.
Why is it that so many employers still don’t have an AI Use Policy?
This week Barry Phillips asks whether the sheer pace of change is deterring many employers from getting an AI use policy.
Your Staff Are Using AI. So Why Aren’t They Telling You?
Your employees are already using AI in secret - the question is whether your workplace makes it safer to admit that, or to hide it.
GenAI Usage in the island of Ireland – a close look at the stats
This week Barry Phillips takes a close look at GenAI usage in the workplace and the stats that indicate it has really taken root
Healthy AI Adoption Rates… but is Your Job Description Keeping Up?
With this week's news of ever-increasing AI adoption rates in Ireland Barry Phillips asks whether job descriptions are stuck in the past and it’s time for a rewrite.
AI Is Coming for HR Jobs. Except, Apparently, It Isn’t.
This week Barry Phillips suggests that we’re all a lot safer in HR than we’re led to believe.
Bias In, Bias Out: But are you the problem?
This week Barry Phillips argues that a lot of bias in AI is more to do with human prompting than biased data or algorithms.
AI Slop in the Workplace: One Employer’s Response
This week Barry Phillips considers how one employer is dealing with the problem of AI generated slop in the workplace.
AI at Work: Enhancing Employees or Replacing Them?
This week Barry Phillips argues that latest stats suggest that AI is enhancing the role of employees rather than replacing them.
Is It Misconduct to Waste AI Tokens?
As so much of AI use is now switching to tokens Barry Phillips asks how HR should be regulating it.
Hello, Can I Speak to a Human, Please?
This week, Barry Phillips asks whether AI is quietly taking the “human” out of Human Resources. As automated systems increasingly influence recruitment, employee support and workplace decision-making, are organisations becoming more efficient at the expense of empathy, judgement and genuine human connection.
AI and “Power Skills” in the Workplace
This week Barry Phillips notes how humans are going to need to become even more human to work best with AI.
Alphabet Soup - Six AI Acronyms HR is Getting to Know
This week Barry Phillips looks at the AI jargon that is becoming common parlance for the HR professional
The Top Five GenAI Tools for HR
This week Barry Phillips revisits his top five GenAI tools for HR and notes some new contenders for the top spot
Data Centres, Water, and the Danger of Big Scary Numbers in the Workplace
This week Barry Phillips calls for better critiquing in the workplace of the big stats relating to AI and Data Centres
The Forthcoming AI Token Crisis – What’s HR got to do with it?
Barry Phillips argues that HR has an important role in helping to reduce token usage in organisations
Is Your Organisation AI Aware or AI Feral?
This week Barry Phillips asks a difficult question and suspects he already knows the answer…
The Ghost in the Machine…. and Who Owns It
This week Barry Phillips notes that the world’s biggest law firm plans to use AI to bottle its lawyers' genius. He asks what does this mean for the people inside?
The High-Risk HR AI Delay: Why the EU AI Act Still Matters
This week Barry Phillips explains why he’s still behind the purpose of the EU AI Act.
Workplace Misuse of AI – more cases more work to do in HR
This week Barry Phillips, reviews two more cases this month of AI misuse and calls for a firm response from HR
The New Job Types AI Will Create
This week Barry Phillips takes a look at the new jobs types AI will create and it may be very different to what you think.
From Fax Machines to AI Agents: The Productivity Trap We Keep Falling Into
This week Barry Phillips asks whether AI is actually likely to make us busier and closer to burnout than ever before.
The Rise of the AI-Enabled HR Professional
This week Barry Phillips considers the rise of the significance of the AI-enabled HR professional and what it means for the workplace.
Why a Human in the Loop Just isn’t Good Enough
This week Barry Phillips makes a cri de coeur and argues for the use at work of one important word that changes everything.
The Fog Machine: Why HR Needs Clarity on AI Before It Needs AI
This week Barry Phillips argues that many organisations just aren’t providing HR with the clarity needed to do a good job implementing AI
AI Slop at Work: When Nobody Stops to Think
This week Barry Phillips argues that AI slop isn’t a technology problem, it’s a human one that is quietly damaging trust, judgement and legal compliance at work.
From Dartmouth to DeepSeek: The AI Timeline Every HR Leader Needs to Know
AI didn't arrive overnight. Understanding where it came from changes how you prepare your people for what's next.
The Holy Grail of Workplace Efficiency — Have We Finally Found It?
This week a triumphant Barry Phillips claims he’s found the one game changing AI tool that every workplace will want to use.
The Rise of the Artificial Colleague
This week Barry Phillips asks: what happens when your colleagues start confiding in machines?
How to choose the right LLM for your workplace and should HR have the final say?
This week Barry Phillips looks at what to consider when choosing the right goto LLM for the workplace.
Are we being lied to about AI adoption rates?
This week Barry Phillips questions what we are being told about AI adoption rates and calls for a whole lot more scepticism.
GenAI is Free… But Soon We’ll Need to Talk Budgets
This week, Barry Phillips, argues that the era of free GenAI use is coming to an end meaning big and difficult choices ahead for employers.
From Punch Cards to Plain Speech: The Workplace Revolution Nobody's Talking About…
This week, Barry Phillips asks whether AI has finally delivered a huge time saver few organisations and employees seem to be using.
Regulating Use of GenAI Tools Employees Just Shouldn’t Be Using – How to Resolve the Conundrum?
This week Barry Phillips offers his solution to the growing problem of how to regulate employee use of GenAI that haven’t been whitelisted.
AI in the Workplace: Is it Still a Wild West? Our Survey Said…
This week Barry Phillips asks what will finally persuade employers to properly regulate AI usage in the workplace.
The Great AI Challenge: Redesigning Work, Not Just Automating It
We're constantly told that AI is transforming work. But here's the uncomfortable truth many organisations are getting it badly wrong. Bolting AI onto broken processes doesn't create transformation—it creates expensive chaos. Let me explain why.
Is ChatGPT Safe to Use in the Private and Third Sector?
This week Barry Phillips asks whether the data security concerns around ChatGPT are really justified.
Who would dare make a prediction for 2026 in the world of AI? Our Chairman apparently…!
This week, Barry Phillips risks a single prediction for workplace AI and hopes he's wrong for this year at least.
The Annual Report that Highlights the Key AI Success Drivers
This week Barry Phillips takes a look at the critical findings from Deloitte’s Tech Trends 2026 report.
AI in the Workplace – Friend or Foe? (Spoiler: It's Complicated)"
This week Barry Phillips asks “Does AI have a reputation in the workplace that requires a complete rethink and rebrand?”
Data Security and ChatGPT – Open AI’s Little Known Huge Improvement
This week Barry Phillips argues that it may be time to relax the rules relating to use of ChatGPT in the workplace.
Annual Review AI Keynote– Six Takeaways
This week Barry Phillips shares six of his many takeaways from his AI keynote delivered this month.
Will the US Succeed in Trumping the EU AI Act as well as D&I?
As the EU released more details this week on how it plans to reduce the impact of the EU AI Act, Barry Phillips asks what we can do about this bended knee approach to the might of the US.
Why it's Time for HR to Lead AI Adoption.
This week Barry Phillips argues there will never be a better time for HR to enhance its professional standing than in this digital revolution.
A Report on the AI Reports for this year (Part 1)
This week Barry Phillips takes a look at some of the most significant AI reports of the year to so far.
Latest Report on AI adoption Figures in the Workplace
This week Barry Phillips looks at the latest AI adoption figures in the US and draws conclusions for us here in Ireland and the UK.
No such thing as the perfect prompt? Maybe it’s time to rethink this?
This week Barry Phillips asks himself whether it is time to go back on his earlier advice that there’s no such thing as the perfect prompt for an LLM.
Accessing the Subject of AI – Is it as complicated for HR as we’re given to believe?
This week Barry Phillips argues that AI can be simplified and is actually easy to understand.
This week’s KPMG Suggests CEOs get AI – so why isn’t this getting to HR?
This week KPMG 2025 published their annual Global CEO Outlook report and its findings surprised a good many in HR
At last! A Government backed Paper all about AI in Northern Ireland
This week Barry Phillips reviews a position paper just published about AI in the Northern Ireland workplace.
AI in the Workplace – According to Three Recent Key Reports
This week Barry Phillips takes a look at what is going on in the workplace with AI according to three recent heavyweight reports.
"AI as a recruitment tool – is it really as useful as we are led to believe?"
This week Barry Phillips considers whether or not employers are really winning the battle to recruit more efficiently using AI.
HR or HR plus Chief AI Enablement Officer?
This week Barry Phillips considers the evolving shape of HR in the fast moving world of AI.
Why Representing HR via GenAI Just Got a Whole Lot Better
This week Barry Phillips looks at the new version of Gemini Pro Flash that takes image generation to a new level.
The New ChatGPT5 Reviewed (Part III)
In the final part of the Review Barry Phillips argues that in talking about what disappoints us about ChatGPT5 we’re missing the point.
The New ChatGPT5 Reviewed (Part II)
In Part II of the Review Barry Phillips looks at what has changed both behind the curtain as well as front of house.
The New ChatGPT5 Reviewed (Part 1)
Over the next three weeks Barry Phillips will be reviewing the importance of ChatGPT5 for HR
Newsflash!! ChatGPT5 has dropped and scores a clear round in our legal test..
This week Barry Phillips puts ChatGPT5 to the test and witnesses another big leap forwards.
Newsflash! Coming Soon… ChatGPT-5 Why HR Ain’t Ready
This week Barry Phillips asks can we find the time to be excited about the imminent appearance of ChatGPT5?
Why Does AI Get Such a Bad Rap from the Equality Brigade?
This week Barry Phillips wonders why AI gets such a bad rap when it comes to workplace equality and points out that AI has introduced significant accessibility advances that have been largely ignored.
Battle of the Workplace LLMs ChatGPT v Copilot – and the Winner by a Mile Is…?
This week Barry Phillips considers the importance of the announcement that OpenAI is now in partnership with the UK Government.
“Digital Coaching – The Pros, the Cons”
This week Barry Phillips reveals the results of LegalIsland’s digital coaching pilot and considers the pros and cons of AI coaching.
Understanding that AI is here to complete HR not Compete with it.
This week Barry Phillips argues that it's not AI v HR but something very different and so much better.
GenAI - Cognitive Debt or Wealth in the Workplace? It’s Up to Us to Decide…
This week Barry Phillips argues that GenAI makes us lazier or better and its entirely up to us…
AI or Die: Why Waiting Is a Losing Strategy
This week Barry Phillips looks at a few stats that suggest HR needs to make bold moves in AI.
AI Development Running Just to Stand Still? Here’s Some Advice: Run Faster…
This week Barry Phillips argues that the pace of change in most organisations now just isn’t anything like fast enough.
The State of AI Adoption Report 2025 – The Stats and the Tea Leaves.
This week Barry Phillips looks to a recent international AI adoption report for an indication of what might be going on here.
"Is Your Next Coach Human… or Digital?"
This week Barry Phillips considers the rise of the AI coach in the workplace and whether it's time to try one.
"The AI Efficiency Drive: Layoffs or Lift-Off?"
This week Barry Phillips considers whether the new AI efficiency drives will lead to lay offs or to company growth.
AI is no longer about upskilling. It’s about full scale transformation
This week Barry Phillips considers the importance of the Microsoft Build Conference and what it tells us about the true impact of AI
The Alarming Gap in AI Training at Work
This week Barry Phillips shares the results of a survey of Irish employers and has reason to worry
Is AI Coming for Anyone Who Doesn't Do AI — Or Just Everyone?
This week Barry Phillips comments on a shift in thinking and asks how do we view the change to come because of AI.
“When AI Becomes Too Much Like Us”
This week, Barry Phillips, considers whether ChatGPT is becoming not only too like a human but too like the actual user.
"That Shopify AI Memo – why all the fuss?"
This week, Barry Phillips, asks why the Shopify memo making AI use compulsory in the company proved so newsworthy.
The Stanford AI Index Report 2025 and Key Takeaways for HR
This week Barry Phillips takes a look at the AI Index Report of 2025 and gives his top five takeaways for HR
“From Co-Pilot to Colleague: Why AI Agents Are Your Newest Team Members”
This week Barry Phillips considers a completely new type of team member that’s a little bit special.
“Adoption of AI in Ireland – our latest survey said ……”
This week Barry Phillips examines the results of our latest survey on AI adoption and reads the tea leaves…
