Advantages and Disadvantages of AI in Hiring

 

“AI seems to be stepping into every industry imaginable today, from autonomous cars to genomic diagnostics”

Jason Chow



How do you define AI?

“Artificial Intelligence (also known as machine intelligence) is a branch of computer science that aims to imbue software with the ability to analyze its environment using either predetermined rules and search algorithms, or pattern recognizing machine learning models, and then make decisions based on those analyses. In this way, AI attempts to mimic biological intelligence to allow the software application or system to act with varying degrees of autonomy, thereby reducing manual human intervention for a wide range of functions." (Harrison, 2022).

Advantages of AI in Hiring (Chow. 2021)

While percentages vary, the importance of digital HR is well-recognized around the world (source: Deloitte)

Before we begin, it would be clear that this discussion leans towards in-house engagement with full-time employees. For temporary talent engagement, using an existing freelance platform can be more cost-effective and efficient.

Less Potential for Human Bias(Chow. 2021)

Regardless of guidelines, policy, or other factors, ensuring an utterly bias-free hiring process will be incredibly difficult. It’s a human trait can be biased towards certain aspects – in fact, a defining characteristic. 

AI is purely data-driven. As long as the intent is not present in the AI tool, it will not introduce unnecessary characteristics into the hiring process. While data-driven assessment might sound a bit cold, it is impartial.

Speeds Up the Hiring Process(Chow. 2021)

Recruitment times differ widely depending on role, industry, and other factors. Yet, it’s undeniable that you will speed up at least part of the process using AI tools. For example, you could use them to create or improve job descriptions, match applications with requirements, carry out candidate screening, and more.

Taking too long to connect with potential talent is something that may cost you dearly. Remember, while there are ample applicants, almost all of them will be applying to multiple companies. If your hiring process drags on, talented individuals can quickly get snapped up by the competition.

Reduce HR Expenditure(Chow. 2021)

Since start to finish, hiring new talent is expensive. An increasingly large number of HR tasks will quickly lead to ballooning staff costs simply for talent acquisition. By introducing AI tools, not only can you speed up the process (as discussed above), however repetitive tasks can be kept away from expensive HR personnel and reduce cost.

Remember that the cost of AI tools is often much less in the context of large businesses. As your organization grows, it makes much more financial sense to replace rote tasks with automation. You might be surprised at the overall impact on ROI.

Lowers Chances of Talent Leaks(Chow. 2021)

When HR is recruiting, the focus is often on specific roles that need filling. While some organization do keep applications on file, cross-matching doesn’t always occur for various reasons. This shortcoming will easily lead to talent leaks where a candidate suited for an alternative role is lost.

Cross-matching often gets neglected due to the amount of time consumed trying to match multiple applicants and roles. Rather than onboarding more HR to fill this gap, you could leverage AI for much faster results.

Matching a potentially leaked talent with alternative roles also saves on the future want to hire specifically for that purpose. Keep these identified talents on file, or simply get them early in anticipation of filling a need.

Improve the Sourcing Process(Chow. 2021)

The traditional hiring process makes extensive use of job organizations or boards. While this helps save time and money, AI tools will give you many of the capabilities these channels offer. For example, an AI scraper will collate data from many sources and assess them for suitability.

Disadvantages of AI in Hiring



Increasing Regulation(Chow. 2021)

As many other IT-related elements, AI remains but a tool in the hiring process. Except you take great care selecting these tools, some form of bias may remain. The reality is that regulation isn’t seeking to eliminate bias then to direct it towards the desired outcome.

Because of this, many countries often have some form of discrimination built into regulatory systems – for instance, mandates for specific proportions of gender, domestic versus expatriate manual labor, or any other mandated ratios.

Lack of Transparency in the AI Industry(Chow. 2021)

Most companies can rely on external sources for AI algorithms used in the hiring process. Unfortunately, like more commercial products, exactly how they work is often considered proprietary. The result is a high risk as they might introduce areas contrary to the company culture or legislation.

May Lower Company Image(Chow. 2021)

Persons often have different attitudes towards the use of tech tools. These varying attitudes can mean alienating a proportion of potential candidates who prefer more direct human interaction with a prospective company.

What makes things worse is that AI elements are frequently used in the first line of the hiring process. Only when data has been sorted are results provided to human recruiters to make the last judgments.

This prospective alienation might lead to a poor impression of the brand among prospective employees, which may spread in the community and be hard to counter should processes change in the future.

References

Riechert M And Gray, A (2021) Will Ai Create More Problems Than It Solves In Recruiting? [Online] Available at: https://www.morganlewis.com/pubs/2021/02/will-ai-create-more-problems-than-it-solves-in-recruiting [Accessed on 26th April, 2022]

Chow, J. (2021) Pros and Cons of Using AI in Your Hiring Process [Online] Available at: https://datafloq.com/read/pros-cons-using-ai-your-hiring-process-2/ [Accessed on 26th April, 2022]

Caroline, R. (2020) What AI is and what it means for the recruitment process [Online] Available at: https://www.retorio.com/blog/what-ai-is-and-what-it-means-for-the-recruitment-process [Accessed on 26th April, 2022]

Harrison. (2022) AI in Recruitment [Online] Available at: https://blog.harrisonassessments.com/blog/ai-in-recruitment.html [Accessed on 26th April, 2022]

Hsu, Y. (1999) Recruitment and Selection and Human Resource Management in the Taiwanese Cultural Context. Business School University of Plymouth [Online] Available at: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/29818879.pdf. Accessed on 4th April, 2022.

Comments

  1. Ayesha Udani Sudusinghe7 May 2022 at 05:22

    The effective implementation of AI technology in Human resource management have challenges. As per Tambe et.al (2019) HRM has to face following challenges in implementing AI;
    1. Complexity of HR outcomes such as what constitutes being a “Good Employee”
    2. The data set in human resources are less standardize leading to poor predictions.
    3. The outcomes of human resource decisions have serious consequences such as who gets hired and fired. In such case decisions based on use of algorithm based system may not be justifiable.
    4. Employees can manipulate or adversely react to the algorithmic based decisions which will affect the outcomes.

    ReplyDelete

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