COGNITIVE SECURITY IN THE AI AGE: HR’S STRATEGIC ROLE IN BUILDING THE INTELLIGENT HUMAN FIREWALL FOR SUSTAINABLE DECISION-MAKING
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69980/y9vz8f07Keywords:
Cognitive Security, Artificial Intelligence, Organizational Behaviour, Decision-Making, Sustainable Leadership, Human-in-Command, Algorithmic Bias, Cognitive firewall, OWNERAbstract
The accelerated integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into organizational processes has fundamentally transformed how individuals think, teams interact, and decisions are made. While AI enhances efficiency, analytical depth, and innovation capability, it simultaneously reshapes cognitive processes, interpersonal communication, and collective judgment. Over-dependence on algorithmic recommendations, diminishing reflective thinking, AI-mediated communication, and diffusion of responsibility increasingly threaten decision quality, team bonding, ethical conduct, and long-term organizational sustainability. In this context, many organizational failures no longer originate from technological breakdowns but from compromised cognition, behavioural drift, and erosion of trust. This paper advances the concept of cognitive security, defined as the organizational capability to safeguard human judgment, ethical reasoning, communication integrity, and behavioural discipline in AI-enabled environments. Anchored in Organizational Behaviour, strategic Human Resource Management, and leadership practice, the paper positions HR as the strategic custodian of cognitive security. The paper proposes an Intelligent Human (Cognitive) Firewall, operationalized through the OWNER framework, to ensure that inputs from data, analytics, AI tools, and human stakeholders are filtered through human judgment, accountability, and command responsibility. Reinforced by BMW (Body–Mind–Words), Emotional Intelligence, and the military ethic of “walking the talk,” the framework aligns thought, communication, and action.
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