AI in Recruitment, an Enabler but not a Doer.

​The Human Resources function is constantly evolving with the changes that first the technology and now Artificial Intelligence is bringing to our lives and businesses. Various parts of the recruitment process have been taken over by technology because of the efficiency and accuracy it serves.

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In fact, AI is said to become a major contributor to the recruitment sector in future. Some of the areas that we can see to have an impact from the implementation of AI will be;

Candidate Shortlisting

The recruitment cycle begins with sourcing potential candidates, which can be a time-consuming process considering that recruiters have to sift through hundreds of profiles on job boards and social media. However, now with technology development, it is forecasted that the time utilised to analyse the CV and shortlist a candidate will be significantly reduced.

Candidate Matching

Beyond just sourcing candidates, finding perfect matches for job roles has always been the biggest challenge for recruiters. Fortunately, AI has resolved it to a significant extent by enabling in-depth assessment of candidate’s CV’s as well as their online presence for validating the facts mentioned in the CV’s.

Customising Employee Value Proposition

As organisations prioritise onboarding the best talent, the concept of Employee Value Proposition (EVP) comes to the forefront. Essentially, EVP is the unique set of benefits that an employee gets in return of the skills and experiences they offer. Candidates look beyond the pay package and AI can be used to understand their expectations and come up with tailored EVPs that work.

Validation of Remote Workers/Interviews

Another key role that AI can play for enhancing the recruitment process is by bringing credibility into remote interviews and hiring. Empowered with technologies like voice and facial recognition, AI can detect even the slightest anomalies in the candidate’s behavior and ensure that only the ones who are ethically credible are made a part of the organisation.

The Other Side

AI can automate a lot of processes, making things simpler and quicker for talent functions, but everything about the use of AI in recruitment is not as perfect as it sounds. There are several reasons why it can never fully override the human intervention in the recruitment process.

No Match for Human Judgement

Humans are after all humans and no technology can change their ability to think and perceive. It would be wrong to expect a machine-learned software program to judge the capabilities, skills and personal traits such as adaptability and emotional quotient of the candidates.

Data Bias

Data bias in AI can skew the decision-making as well. For instance, if the data used to train an AI system uses male profiles, it will obviously reject the female candidates while shortlisting prospects. Hence, there is a need to be careful with the data used to train AI and ensure that it is bias-free.

Scope for Improvement

Even though the advancement in AI over the years has been impressive, it is still an evolving science and there are chances of inaccuracy. Organisations should not risk such an important function as recruitment by leaving it fully to AI. After all, the skill of a human recruiter is to ask intelligent questions to unearth the obvious; not only listening to what is said, but also how it is said. The day technology can do that is the day all humans will be out of a job.

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Even if the technology is making it big on the recruitment landscape, we need to understand that AI is an enabler, not a doer. It can be used to speed up the recruitment process but relying totally on it to make decisions will never be the right approach.