AI in Hiring: Promise, Pitfalls, and the Push for Fairness

AI in Hiring: Promise, Pitfalls, and the Push for Fairness. AI-driven recruitment tools such as one-way video interviews, CV screeners, and digital monitoring are transforming how employers approach hiring by offering potential time and cost savings. Hilke Schellmann, an assistant professor of journalism at New York University and investigative reporter, embarked on a journey to understand these tools’ effectiveness. She experimented with myInterview, a system that evaluates candidates through video interviews, and discovered surprising results. Despite not answering questions in her native German and using a robot voice generator for her English responses, Schellmann scored high, raising doubts about the reliability of these technologies.

Schellmann’s findings, detailed in her book “The Algorithm,” highlight the broader use of AI and algorithms in hiring, monitoring, and evaluating employees. She argues that many hiring tools are grounded in questionable science and can introduce bias, potentially harming rather than helping the recruitment process. Digital monitoring and AI surveillance techniques, like flight risk analysis and sentiment analysis, often have limited predictive accuracy and can negatively impact employee well-being.

The use of AI in hiring is expanding into various job sectors, yet Schellmann points out that these technologies are not without flaws. Game-based assessments, social media analysis, and CV screeners can all exhibit bias and lack transparency, making it difficult for even their vendors to understand how decisions are made. This opacity, coupled with potential discrimination, underscores the need for skepticism, regulation, and transparency regarding AI recruitment tools.

Despite these challenges, job seekers can leverage AI tools like ChatGPT to enhance their job applications, somewhat leveling the playing field. Schellmann advocates for a critical approach to adopting AI in hiring and calls for measures to ensure these technologies are effective, fair, and do not discriminate, emphasizing the importance of pushing back against unreliable and unfair AI tools in the workplace.