AI in Recruitment
We’ve been having a few conversations in the office recently about Artificial Intelligence (AI), both from a general global Armageddon perspective (due to a few notable scientists recently scaremongering about robots taking over the world!), and more specifically within the recruitment world (where we have dipped our toe into AI automation of our cv formatting with an excellent new start-up called HireAra - https://www.hireara.ai/)
AI is a topic that certainly divides the crowd - some people view the increasing prevalence of AI as a cause for concern, and others are excited by its unlimited potential, but whatever side of the fence you are on, AI is no longer the stuff of science fiction and is 100% here to stay so it useful to discuss the pro’s and con’s as we all think about how best to use it and the benefits it can bring to the working world.
As an increasing feature of the modern workplace, AI has become invaluable for many organisations in their recruitment processes. There are various AI-assisted tools on offer in the recruitment space to help employers filter applications, including performing the initial screening of CVs and application forms, searching prospective employees’ social media using search terms, or using chatbots at the first stage of the interview process, with applicants answering questions posed by AI in a video call. For organisations with a high volume of applicants, these tools can save an enormous amount of time and cost. Inevitably, all elements of the recruitment process that can be automated with AI, will be automated with AI. This leaves the fundamental personal skills that will need to be honed by the next gen of recruiter even more than before.
On the flip side, businesses should also be wary of over-reliance on AI in recruitment, due to the risk of potential misuse and discrimination. Ultimately, humans are still responsible for programming the AI to do the specific tasks and if they are inputting flawed or biased data, that is what the machine will learn, and biases (discrimination) will therefore be built into the system. You would like to think most reputable AI Recruitment Tech companies would not knowingly put this into their code, but it’s clearly something to be aware of!
For us at Red, we are fully the side of the fence that is excited about progress in the AI space and the recent automation of our cv formatting has been a game-changer! If this is just the beginning of what is possible then I’m definitely excited about what the future will hold!