Beyond the Black Box: A Triptych Framework for Ethical and Accountable AI in Human Capital Management

This paper addresses the critical governance gap emerging at the intersection of Human Capital Management (HCM) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). While AI offers unprecedented efficiencies in talent management, its rapid, unregulated deployment has created a crisis of ethics and accountability, characterized by algorithmic bias, opacity, and the erosion of employee rights. Existing literature has examined these problems and potential solutions in isolation. This paper bridges this gap by proposing a novel, integrated conceptual model: The Triptych Framework for Ethical AI-Driven HCM. Drawing on a comprehensive library research methodology, we synthesize three distinct but complementary streams of literature AI Governance, Explainable AI (XAI), and Value Sensitive Design (VSD) into a multi-level governance structure. The framework’s three pillars (1) Macro-Level Algorithmic Accountability, (2) Meso-Level Technical Transparency via XAI, and (3) Micro-Level Proactive Ethics through VSD provide a holistic roadmap for the responsible design, deployment, and oversight of AI in the workplace. We discuss the framework’s theoretical implications for extending human capital theory and its practical contributions for HR leaders, technology developers, and policymakers. We conclude that only through such an integrated, human-centric approach can organizations harness the benefits of AI while upholding the principles of fairness, dignity, and trust fundamental to sustainable human capital.