Introduction
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is entering the hiring process at a time when diversity and inclusion are on everyone’s mind. While AI can’t solve everything, it can play an important role in reducing bias and discrimination in hiring.
AI’s Role in Hiring
AI can help recruiters find the best candidates for a job. Say’s Dylan Sidoo, AI-enabled applications can scan resumes and CVs, analyze them using natural language processing algorithms, evaluate specific skills based on keywords or phrases, and compare candidates’ credentials against job requirements. This process helps recruiters quickly identify qualified applicants who meet the minimum qualifications for a position.
AI can also reduce bias in hiring processes by automating part of it or providing unbiased recommendations based on objective criteria such as candidate experience and skill set rather than factors like race or gender identity that are more prone to human error.
Artificial Intelligence and the Link Between Diversity and Inclusion
Artificial intelligence can help companies make better hiring decisions, which will in turn lead to a more diverse workforce. A recent study by Harvard Business Review found that companies with more women in leadership roles perform better financially than their competitors. Diversity is also linked to better innovation and problem solving, as well as improved employee satisfaction and retention rates.
AI can help eliminate bias in the hiring process by automating tasks like resume screening or phone interviews so that human resources professionals can focus on more subjective factors such as culture fit and personality compatibility–factors that are difficult for humans alone to evaluate objectively.
Breaking Down Bias through Data
Bias in hiring can be addressed through data. When you have a large enough sample size of applicants, you can use it to identify areas where bias may be present. If you find that certain groups are being excluded from consideration for jobs, then you know that there is something wrong with your hiring process. You can then take steps to remove or correct the problem by adjusting the way candidates are evaluated and/or improving the information provided during interviews.
If there’s no evidence of discrimination in your hiring practices (for example, if it doesn’t seem like women or minorities aren’t getting interviews), then this could mean that either: A) Your company isn’t discriminatory; or B) You’re not looking hard enough at how applicants are treated before they get hired!
Beyond Hiring
A second area where AI can be used to eliminate bias is in the hiring process itself.
AI-assisted recruiting is a growing field, and there are many companies that have already integrated machine learning into their recruiting efforts.
For example, one company I recently worked with had an applicant tracking system (ATS) that was built on top of technology from SalesforceIQ. The ATS allowed them to take advantage of machine learning algorithms to help them better evaluate candidates based on their skillset and experience level, rather than relying on keywords alone–which could be biased against certain groups of people if they were chosen arbitrarily by someone without knowledge about diversity issues in the workplace.
AI can play a role in reducing discrimination in the hiring process.
AI can play a role in reducing discrimination in the hiring process.
AI is already being used to remove bias from the interview process, background check process and more.
Conclusion
AI has the potential to be a powerful tool in eliminating discrimination from hiring processes. It can help recruiters identify candidates that have been historically overlooked or underrepresented by their organizations, and it can identify common biases that may otherwise go unnoticed by human eyes alone. However, AI alone will not solve this problem; we must also address the root causes of bias within ourselves and our organizations if we want to truly eradicate discrimination from hiring practices forever.
