The Influence of AI in New Age Hiring

The Backstory

Artificial Intelligence or “AI” was formally founded in 1955 and has come a long way ever since. AI programs were deployed in diverse fields. But, it was only in 2017 that “AI in Hiring” became the talk of the industry fueling innumerable conferences, blogs, articles, and podcasts that have discussed the immense potential of this technology in recruitment. As of this date, AI remains the biggest trend in the recruiting industry. All signs point to AI continuing its reign over the next few years.

The Impression

In technical terms, AI is defined as a computer system that can mimic humans’ cognitive functions, such as learning and problem-solving. Is this credible in the world of talent acquisition? At first glance, ‘AI-driven’ talent acquisition systems seem to be huckster promises: database-driven n-tier web platforms masquerading under the AI label.

That is the hard truth: much of the recruitment world has not yet employed genuine AI to build end-to-end talent acquisition systems. Instead, there has been vast usage of relevant algorithms that match the right candidates to the right job, chatbots that elevate candidate interactions, and automated sourcing. In terms of actual AI technology, some aspects of machine learning and forecasting are used to auto-screen candidates from their resumes. Parts of smart automation are used to perform sentiment analysis on job descriptions so as to detect potentially biased language. The Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is the most commonly used AI program.

In the form of a programmatic advertising technique, AI is used for posting highly targeted job ads. Interviews proctored by AI-driven tech can also be conducted. Basically, any domain in recruiting where definite inputs and outputs exist such as screening, sourcing, and assessments, is being automated utilising AI algorithms.

A year spent in artificial intelligence is enough to make one believe in God.

— Mathematician Alan Perlis

The Good

This much is evident: the industry’s movement towards AI is real. From a recruitment perspective, AI makes the whole hiring process easier and quicker. This further leads to higher efficiency, with the best results.

There are numerous benefits of using AI technology for recruitment. The first is the automation of high-volume tasks, which is a major time-saver for recruiters. This, in turn, increases business productivity. In addition to the quantitative benefits, there is an improvement in the quality of hiring through standardized job matching. Improved integration of analytics helps pick the right position for a candidate.

Further, AI enables precise analysis of a candidate’s skills – biometric and psychometric tests can even analyse the smallest traits such as voice features, facial micro-expressions, and body language. The entire recruitment process is maintained with high accuracy and is completely fraud-proof.

With regard to candidates, there is a highly improved user experience. Also, competition motivates candidates to upgrade their skills. A sophisticated rèsumè and prestigious referrals will no longer work.

The Bad

Artificial intelligence could appear to be a threat in the eyes of recruiters since AI takes up part of or sometimes even the entire job of the recruiter. But the change, we predict, will be temporary. Humans will adapt, as they did when the typewriter upended skilled human writers, or the computer upended professional typists. Recruiters will move into lateral positions where the human touch is essential. Thus, AI in hiring will elevate the value of human intervention.

In the current scenario, lack of human touch is a drawback of AI. While it is seemingly straightforward to match a candidate’s skills to a job requirement, there are so many dimensions of aptitude, attitude, fit into a team, and personal capabilities that can only be gauged by a human. This provides scope for more research on gracefully combining human and artificial intelligence as AI is still in its infancy in the recruitment landscape.

Finally, when it comes to bias, AI is as suspect as humans. Even though most AI systems show no hint of bias, there have been observations of bias creeping into systems. After all, AI is built by humans and trained on human data. In the long run, such biases can result in systematic discrimination, whether it is to do with gender, age, or experience. Ultimately, the solution lies with us. Recruitment specialists should consider this as a careful concern and monitor what is being fed into the system

The Latest

The recruitment technology realm is rapidly changing, wherein AI is soon becoming a must-have. Here are a few AI trends in hiring:

• Recruitment Marketing Software
  These tools are aimed at creating engaging content for job ads and building an impressive employer brand.
• Talent Rediscovery Software
  These algorithms screen prior candidates and verify whether they are suitable for the currently open roles.
• Job Aggregators
  These programs employ spiders and bots that crawl different career sites, social media platforms, and job boards to advertise job postings.
• Predictive Models
  These models provide deep data-driven insights throughout the recruitment process, enabling stakeholders to forecast success probabilities for both the company and the candidate.

The Message

AI technology can transform many aspects of recruiting, but it cannot replace human interaction. AI will remain an assistant to recruiters for the foreseeable future, providing quantum leaps in productivity, efficiency and outcomes that will have far-reaching positive effects on hiring. AI tech-enabled hiring will help recruiters, and ultimately, business owners execute better towards strategic hires.

The ultimate goal to achieve success will be a collaborative effort between human and artificial intelligence. The recruitment world is moving towards phygital recruitment – an amalgamation of human pre-qualification and machine learning algorithms. This hybrid approach has emerged as highly successful.

It is also important to note that recruitment specialists should constantly upskill themselves in domains that AI cannot dominate over: providing the much-needed human dimension in understanding the abilities and needs of candidates, and matching them to the right job requisitions.

HirePro‘s AI-driven agile platform is specifically built to address the unique challenges of recruitment, be it campus or lateral hiring. Workflows across corporate functions and service providers are integrated and automated to offer a single platform.

If you want to know more about our platform, reach out to us on 080 6656 6000 or write to us at sales@hirepro.in.

References:
– talentlyft.com
– forbes.com
– hrtechnologist.com
– wikipedia.org
– resources.workable.com
– ideal.com
– medium.com
– vtechsolution.com
– recruitmenttech.com
– simplicant.com