'Remember, these tools are remarkable, not magic,' says expert
A majority of HR professionals trust artificial intelligence in carrying out recruitment duties, indicating growing trust for the rapidly developing technology, according to a new report.
It found that 67% of HR professionals believe AI is the same or even better at finding well-qualified applicants. Another 73% also said they trust AI systems to make candidate recommendations.
HireVue surveyed 1,000 HR professionals in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Unconscious biases from AI
The findings come despite AI's reputation of potentially being biased when used in recruitment. In 2018, Amazon found that its AI recruiting tool preferred male job candidates over female ones.
Anwar Khalil, CEO of Martian Logic, also shared that their AI model that was used to refine recruitment processes got influenced by unconscious biases from its users' decision-making.
According to Khalil, a deliberate, informed approach to AI is the solution.
"In recruitment, you might be going through a list of people that have applied for a role. You might look at a first and a last name, and based on the world that you grew up in, an unconscious bias might creep into your mind and result in a quick decision that someone with this name couldn't do this job," he previously said.
"That applicant will be placed into the 'no' pile, and you'll move on to the next candidate. The AI needs to learn that it shouldn’t take that opinion into account."
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Barb Hyman, CEO of Sapia.ai, also told HRD that using AI for recruitment will be dependent on data.
"So that's where the risk is, it all comes down to what data are you relying on to assess whether that person's data profile fits this one or not," she said.
Careful use of AI
Amid the massive hype for AI, HireVue chief data scientist Lindsey Zuloaga said employers need to be "wary of lofty promises" from AI vendors.
"Hiring is a high-stakes domain, and talent teams should prioritise partnering with companies that validate their claims with audits and fairness documentation," Zuloaga said in a statement.
"Remember, these tools are remarkable, not magic. Be wary of anyone overpromising results without the ability to back up their claims."