The Pros And Cons Of AI In Tech Recruitment

 Artificial intelligence (AI) has an image issue in the hiring process. Many of us don't like the thought of trusting robots with making decisions that could have a significant impact on people's lives, especially when we might not always understand how and why they act as they do.

But what if it turns out that decisions made by machines are actually more fair and less likely to show bias than those made by humans? This is the goal for many people researching the issue of using machine learning in HR and recruitment. The global Covid-19 pandemic's drive for home and remote working, as well as related developments like the "great resignation," put HR departments in a position where they must manage and anticipate the complicated and constantly shifting patterns of employee behavior.

These are the kinds of patterns that AI is particularly good at identifying, understanding, and forecasting. This explains why Netflix and Google are so adept at anticipating what you'll want to watch next. According to the streaming service Netflix, suggestions account for 80% of all viewing.

While we are glad to have a computer assisting us in choosing the next movie we should watch, we might be a little uneasy at the idea of it choosing whether or not we can have a job - or which employees a corporation should hire or fire.

We recently had interviews with experts in which we discussed the ethical implications of this type of technology, as well as how it is evolving to help companies understand concepts like “soft skills”. These are concepts that can be vital to understanding how well a candidate might fit a certain role but are often poorly conveyed by traditional recruitment data gathering channels – such as resumes and interviews.

According to the experts, by helping organizations get a better understanding of what candidates have to offer in this regard, organizations can lead to less biased and more effective recruiting decisions.

Technology skills are becoming less and less useful over time, and automation is eliminating labor that individuals can perform. This means that you must devise strategies for how people and machines may cohabit. That's the urgent requirement, thus it's crucial to hire the best individuals and hire people based on their skills rather than their academic credentials.

During the interview, the experts took the time to explain to us some of the principles behind the way that they specifically work. By assessing the soft skills – such as a person’s communication and decision-making ability, as well as their empathy, generosity, or altruism – smarter decisions can be made about who might be a good fit for particular roles. This doesn’t necessarily mean that it differentiates between “good” and “bad” people, as might be implied by the fact it is assessing, for example, altruism.

The question "what are the soft skills people need?" comes up frequently, but it's inaccurate; the soft skills required for success as an entrepreneur, an accountant, or a CIA agent are all quite different. And the wonderful thing about [AI] is that it allows us to make recommendations that are individualised and prescriptive.

In a world where machines will unavoidably be making people redundant in some professions - such as drivers and machine operators - and freeing them up to take on different, maybe more satisfying jobs, this new way of assessing potential is potentially quite important.

Gone are the 1980s… ‘oh, if you’re this, then you'll do this, and you'll be successful – and if you're not, you're out of luck …’ technology enables us to do that.