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Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Recruitment


Due to the new advancements in technology it has incurred overwhelming growth in data collection and management systems (Searle, 2006). Organizations have been forced to adapt to change due to the global transformation of big data (Mayer-Schönberger & Cukier, 2013). Russell and Norvig (2016) have stated there are four approaches, as mentioned in table 1 approaches related to thinking are mentioned above and approaches related to behavior are the once mentioned below, the once mentioned on the left of table 1 are the human-centered approach definitions, where success is measured in relation to human performance and the approach on the right side of the table are rational (the ideal human behavior) measured based on a rational approach, where mathematics and engineering drives the rational approach and hypotheses and explanations drives human behavior (Russell & Norvig, 2016).


Figure 1: Definition of AI, Organized into four Categories
Source: Artificial intelligence a modern approach, (2010)


AI in HR Process
According to the below video 2: AI has changed the recruitment process, by faster and efficient hiring where AI software can scan, read and analyze applications which saves time on sorting application, their HR saves time and money for making bad choices. More effective: AI can assist companies understand the candidates who fit the job by sending highly targeted advising and minimizing hiring bias which is unintentionally present due to human error. Better retention which is linked to recruiting if employees are more satisfied with work, HR does not need new recruitments. Therefore Human Intervention such as Biasness toward some candidates can be eliminated and also psychometric tests can be included during the recruitment process which will contribute to more satisfied employees. AI effectively assist the Company by proving better employees, which adds more value to the company. 

Figure 2: AI and HR recruitment process
Source: techfunnel.com, (2018) 


AI at Unilever recruitment
According to Video 3: Bernard Marr Unilever one of the largest consumer goods companies with 400 plus brands and employs of 170,000 or more all around the world and recruit 30,000 people a year. Unilever receives 1.8 million applications for jobs, this massive operation of selection of applications, coordinating interviews across all the location, therefore Unilever has used AI and Machine Learning to streamline this process to make it more cost-effective and less time-consuming. This was initiated with their Future Leader Program by recruiting 800 people out of 250,000 applications received. Interestingly the first design was a set of online games, which specifically identifies and assesses the application's aptitude, logical thinking, reasoning, and desire for risk-taking. The process continues to AI interview based on automated assessment this continues till the right set of applicants are selected and finally sent to recruitment centers for the first-time human intervention is involved to select the candidates who are eligible for the vacant position. This removes the biasness such as the Horn effect where a negative aspect of the candidate overwhelm the interviewer, therefore the interviewer will not be able to proceed forward and Halo effect which is the right opposite where the interviewer focuses on the positive aspect of the candidate and foregoes a proper interview. 
Figure 3: Unilever AI recruitment
Source: Bernard Marr & Co, (2019) 

 Conclusion

AI has indeed improved the e-recruitment process making it more cost-effective and save time by supporting the Company to scan, read and analyze applications based on a set of machine learning algorithms and goes a step further and to do the interview behalf of the employers and selects the best candidates and passed on to the final selection process which involves human intervention. According to Unilever one of the largest consumer goods companies in the world AI recruitment has assisted them to eliminate biasness of a human intervened recruitment process such as halo effect and horn effect, therefore the best candidates for the job will be selected which adds more value to the company, however, AI is still new and evolving. This also raises questions in terms of an ethical point of view. AI recruitment tools may vary based on company Budgets, HR Employee Skillset, senior management view on AI such well, nevertheless companies need to adapt on some sort of AI automation for recruitment soon to have a competitive edge with the competition. 


References

Bellman, R. E. (1978). An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Can Computers Think? Boyd & Fraser Publishing Company.

Bernard Marr (2019) How Unilever is Using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Their Recruitment [Online]. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efo2ebnES_U>. [Accessed on 28 October 2019].

Charniak, E. and McDermott, D. (1985). Introduction to Artificial Intelligence. Addison-Wesley.

Haugeland, J. (Ed.). (1985). Artificial Intelligence: The Very Idea. MIT Press.

Kurzweil, R. (1990). The Age of Intelligent Machines. MIT Press.

Mayer-Schönberger, V., & Cukier, K. (2013). Big data: A revolution that will transform how we live, work, and think. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Nilsson, N. J. (1998). Artificial Intelligence: A New Synthesis. Morgan Kaufmann.

Poole, D., Mackworth, A. K., and Goebel, R. (1998). Computational intelligence: A logical approach. Oxford University Press.

Rich, E. and Knight, K. (1991). Artificial Intelligence (second edition). McGraw-Hill.

Winston, P. H. (1992). Artificial Intelligence (Third edition). Addison-Wesley.

Russell, S.J & Norvig, P. (2010) Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. 3rd Ed. New Jersey, Pearson.    

Searle, R. H. (2006). New technology: the potential impact of surveillance techniques in recruitment practices. Personnel Review, 35(3), 336–351.


Techfunnel (2019) How Artificial Intelligence Can Change the HR Recruitment Process [Online]. Available at: <https://www.techfunnel.com/hr-tech/how-artificial-intelligence-can-change-the-hr-recruitment-process/> [Accessed on 28 October 2019]. 







Comments

  1. Nadeeranga PathiranaNovember 28, 2019 at 1:06 PM

    Hi Mizni, very insightful post, thank you for sharing! According to Geetha and Bhanu (2018), one of the other significance of AI in recruitment is that such systems allow for the employers to define the competencies required for the job role on offer and the system can use it's algorithms to map the talents of the available candidates to those predefined requirements. This would result in the organization being able to acquire the most suitable candidate for the position.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mizni FarookDecember 3, 2019 at 10:29 AM

      Agree with your comments, therefore Artificial Intelligence is used by HR Managers to recruit, retain and inspire the skilled workforce that leads both employer and employee to success and growth (Geetha & Reddy, 2018) AI's main role in recruiting is in the acquisition of talent (Madeline Laurano Co-Founder & Chief Research Office).

      Delete
  2. Mizni FarookDecember 3, 2019 at 10:27 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thilana RajamanthriDecember 3, 2019 at 11:11 AM

    Hi Mizni, well written post and 100% agree on your AI in recruitment.
    Jonathan Kestenbaum(2016), executive director of Talent Tech Labs, a talent-acquisition technology consultant in New York, acknowledges that HR professionals may initially feel anxious about the impact of AI on their work. But, he says, “Implementing AI software simply eliminates mundane tasks and time-consuming data analysis to serve as an ongoing problem-solver for HR.
    Thank you for bring this topic in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mizni FarookDecember 4, 2019 at 5:58 AM

      Agree with your comments furthermore, Dickson and Nusair (2010) found that using AI in the recruitment process allows or organization to reach larger pools of candidates and less paperwork is required. In addition, AI the skim the information posted on social media, allowing access to candidate values and personality traits (Upadhyay & Khandelwal, 2018) historically explored during the job interview (Faliagka et al. 2012).

      Delete
  4. Anjula PathiranaDecember 4, 2019 at 6:36 PM

    Very interesting topic to discuss. Another particular aspect to consider is the knowledge about potential data bias that has been shown to be quite relevant in a number of important Al applications and discussed several times in the press. For example, in a hiring project at Amazon cited by (Hill 2019) which tried to predict candidates' quality by analyzing past candidates' performance, data is never neutral and can be biased. In Amazon's case, the current dominance of male employees leads the algorithm to downgrade potential applications from female candidates, perpetuating an unwanted lack of diversity and potentially lacking great female talent. The tool has never been put to work (Canals and Heukamp, 2019).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mizni FarookDecember 5, 2019 at 2:06 AM

      Agree with your comments, this is due to the fact AI is relatively new to E-Recruitment area, therefore many organizations don’t use a fully AI e-recruitment solution, however, AI in E-Recruitment has room to grow (Johansson & Herranen, 2019).

      Delete

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