The human element is important in recruitment because it allows for personal interactions and assessments of candidates, which can provide insight into their qualifications and fit within the organisation that may not be discernible through resumes or automated systems. Human recruiters can also provide a positive candidate experience and help to build the company's reputation. Additionally, human recruiters can also identify and address potential biases in the recruitment process.
…
Sounds correct, but doesn’t read quite right, does it?
That’s because it’s the verbatim answer from ChatGPT on why the human element is important in recruitment.
If you don’t know what
ChatGPT is, it is the latest artificial intelligence (AI) tool on the scene that’s causing a stir across all sectors and roles. And many creators have already started finding ways this tool can become the answer to simplifying time-consuming, repetitive tasks that occupy a lot of our days.
And, admittedly, whilst this question took very little time to answer (an impressive 30 seconds, max), this certainly doesn’t read as the answer to fully automating tasks. Especially tasks which benefit from thought and consideration.
AI in recruitment - does it belong?
Deloitte’s latest whitepaper assesses AI's recent uptake in the industry, establishing that “AI’s increasing centrality to business processes, and even strategy, is no longer up for debate”. And upon reviewing how ChatGPT’s users grew to over
13 million users a day in January (for context; TikTok took over
9 months to achieve 100 million users), alongside a multitude of content online discussing the different ways this tool can
make your role easier – it is difficult not to agree with their observations.
However, following on from Deloitte’s whitepaper, Tim Peacock (Head of IM and Digital Transformation at
Element 6) astutely reminds us how this is still machine teaching, and not machine learning, by
sharing this incredibly relevant quote from Dutch computer scientist, Edsger W. Dijktra:
“The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim."
These tools are now so accessible that we don’t consider where we need to draw the line when it comes to expecting human behaviour from artificial beings. When do we decide to stop the automation? When should AI in recruitment be used?
AI in recruitment – when and how has it worked?
The recruitment industry is constantly evolving. The advancements of AI in recruitment have seen adoption across a lot of different professional capacities and a variety of major brands.
For example, L’Oreal and Starbucks have seen success by investing in chatbots to screen potential employees. Hilton adopted AI Interview tools to speed up their hiring process, seeing their turnaround time drop from 43 days to 5. And Audible optimised their talent pipeline by utilising AI to place their job ads. All have their own success stories and a list of benefits they can boast. However, it’s important to consider context and how appropriate these tactics are for your own brand. Will they do more harm than good?
Amazon are a notable example of attempts to harness AI in recruitment and not getting it right. In 2018 plans for the company’s
recruiting engine were scrapped when the team realised it was showing a bias towards women. And whilst it could be argued that AI capabilities have progressed in recent years, it should be noted that the company developing the tool in question was Amazon. Not your average tech company with limited access to resource.
Just as many people are finding with ChatGPT, this new tool could undeniably support many different business functions. However, when those functions require finer details and attention to detail, are you really saving or costing your business?
The good, the bad, the not surprising
Whilst ChatGPT isn’t designed specifically for the recruitment industry, it’s easy to see the benefits it can bring. And with consultants harnessing these benefits with a goal of performing tasks with much greater efficiency, we must remember that the use of new tools come with unexplored territory. And we have yet to see how they can be factored into our existing processes in meaningful, effective, and most importantly; safe ways.
After looking at the initial stages of how ChatGPT is being used, we thought of some examples showing how this could be adopted for use in our recruitment world. Some ideas included...
- Generating interview questions:
this process could be streamlined by creating interview questions beforehand, just by looking at the job description and the requirements. FAQs from candidates could also be answered easily.
- Screening candidates:
candidate responses to interview questions could be evaluated and feedback could be given on their qualifications and suitability for the role.
- Job ad creation:
instead of chasing clients for job ad information, or spending time writing posts from scratch, these could be automated within minutes ready to share online.
- Follow up content:
we know writing is a time-consuming process. Consultants could avoid drafting emails and responses to clients and candidates, such as follow-up emails on both sides after an interview, or even handling rejection letters.
Arguably, anything that saves time in a working environment is a positive. However, it's worth noting the complexities of working in recruitment and how these would be affected.
Outside of the need for a personal touch, there are also other factors to consider when relying on AI in recruitment. It's important to remember that tools like ChatGPT are still in infancy. Making it
important to consider any ethical and legal implications before implementing the technology. Requiring more research to fully understand the potential problems and limitations a language generation model brings into this context.
Some initial issues would include…
- Limited understanding of situations/context:
A language generation model relies on patterns in the data it was trained on. Context is everything when it comes to conversation, and this means it may not always grasp the full situation and may provide irrelevant or inappropriate responses through not always being able to differentiate between the nuances of tone in different situations.
- Biases in data:
As previously mentioned with Amazon’s AI tool; if the training data contains biases, the model may perpetuate these biases in its responses. This could lead to discrimination against certain groups of candidates, severely hurting your D&I strategy.
- Data privacy and security concerns:
The recruitment process involves sharing the personal information of your candidates and utilising a tool like ChatGPT raises concerns around how this is handled and is something we’ve yet to fully understand. Ultimately, making it much more difficult to factor into GDPR or Privacy policies.
- And of course; the lack of human touch:
As previously mentioned, recruitment is a human-cantered process. It involves communication and an understanding of the needs of the client and the candidate. Recruiters need to also grasp the intricacies and nuances of your brand’s tone of voice, or the approach to how you deliver your services. Can an AI tool explain your USP without understanding what personal touches are making you stand out?
We are tech recruitment, not AI recruiters
Ultimately, as current AI systems need both guided training from humans and human input to train on, as well as human fact checking to review that the content is correct or contextually appropriate, it goes without saying that this isn’t a fully formed replacement yet.
Different concerns are also raised - is it appropriate to use AI in recruitment? Is it fair for candidates to deal with a machine instead of a person? An AI consultant would need to be able to communicate clearly, to demonstrate strong negotiation skills and would need to fully understand the needs of their client to be able to identify the type of person who could succeed in their role. A tool like ChatGPT has proven it can undeniably fill a support role in some capacity, but it is not a replacement for human discretion.
Outside of answering ethical factors, we believe that the need for human interaction is a deciding factor in whether a consultant will achieve success with their clients and candidates. Prioritising relationships and the personalisation of your service goes above everything else. We have learnt that empathy and understanding are paramount and integral to our client’s successes, and this is diminished when you consider relying on AI to provide those personal touches.
One of TRIA’s founders,
Lara Webb, recently shared her reflections on LinkedIn, looking back at her time in recruitment and how much technology has changed over the years. Faxing was how hot jobs were delivered, job boards were in print publications and CV libraries existed as filing cabinets. And whilst TRIA specialise in tech recruitment, it’s easy to forget just how much technology has changed the way we work ourselves without a contrasting reminder like this.
(You can read Lara’s full post
here).
Looking back, it may have been up for debate just how integrated LinkedIn would become to our daily routine, or whether it was a good idea to move our information away from the filing cabinets into the cloud. There are always new trends and tools emerging, designed to transform the way we currently work. Disruption is the expectation from technology, and over time new processes will be adapted and accepted in our roles. However, there is a distinctive difference between established tools assisting you in your role, opposed to new and unfamiliar options fully automating how your business operates. And having seen a total change in how a market operates over the years, it highlights exactly what does work and what does stand the test of time. For us, that is the human element. Keeping focus on forming real relationships and understanding with our clients and candidates. And Lara sums it up perfectly:
“I did not start recruitment with the tools that we have now, but have always been able to make sure I treat people like people, do not cut corners and find out what people on both sides of the fence really want - there really is no substitute for sincere and genuine human interaction.”
