From Career Ladders to Digital Jungle Gyms: An HRD Theoretical Framework for Understanding Human-AI Interaction in Career Development

Human Resource Development (HRD) professionals face an unprecedented challenge: supporting career development as artificial intelligence becomes an increasingly influential workplace collaborator. Traditional career theories, including Super’s developmental stages, Holland’s person-environment fit, and Hall’s career frameworks, emerged amid relatively predictable advancement and predominantly human interaction, offering limited guidance for AI-mediated workplace learning. This theoretical article proposes the human-AI Career Integration (HACI) framework, synthesizing career development theory, human-computer interaction, and organizational psychology to explain career adaptation through three dynamically interacting dimensions: adaptive collaboration competency, technology-mediated identity formation, and contextual support systems. Drawing on AI’s paradoxical effects, including narrowing performance gaps while the “silicon ceiling” restricts entry-level access, HACI reconceptualizes adaptability as adaptive collaboration competency, extends identity development to technology-mediated contexts, and positions organizational support as central to career resilience. The framework provides a roadmap for research, HRD interventions, and organizational policies fostering meaningful, sustainable, and equitable careers in AI-mediated workplaces.