AI is already being used to help recruiters with their day-to-day tasks, such as sifting through resumes and conducting initial screenings. AI can be programmed to quickly assess a candidate’s skills, experience and qualifications in order to narrow down the list of potential candidates for further interviews.
AI also has the potential to identify patterns in job postings and resumes that can help recruiters identify the best candidates for a particular job.
Amazon is already working on this technology. The company is known to hire “sight unseen” for warehouse workers but a new story from Vox indicates they are targeting recruiters with their proprietary AI platform.
According to an October 2021 internal paper labeled as “Amazon confidential,” the tech giant has been working for at least the last year to hand over some of its recruiters’ tasks to an AI technology that aims to predict which job applicants across certain corporate and warehouse jobs will be successful in a given role and fast-track them to an interview — without a human recruiter’s involvement. The technology works in part by finding similarities between the resumes of current, well-performing Amazon employees and those of job applicants applying for similar jobs.
Vox Article
The AI tech is known internally as “Automated Applicant Evaluation”, (AAE), was built by a group in Amazon’s HR division known as the Artificial Intelligence Recruitment team and was first tested in 2021. Keep in mind they recently laid off hundreds of recruiters.
However, AI cannot replace human recruiters entirely. AI is not capable of judging a candidate’s personality or ability to communicate effectively with other team members, which are essential qualities for most positions. AI also lacks the interpersonal skills needed to foster relationships with potential candidates and successfully close positions.
In conclusion, AI can be an effective tool for helping recruiters streamline their processes, but AI will never fully replace human recruiters. AI cannot match the nuanced understanding of what makes a successful candidate that only humans can provide. AI is best used as a complement to existing recruitment practices, rather than a replacement. AI can help streamline the recruitment process, but experienced recruiters will still be needed to close successful positions.