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Artificial intelligence (AI) is understood by many as a technology that will take jobs away from people. And as the World Economic Forum reports, it will displace 85 million jobs in coming years. This is driven in large part by the myriad ways that COVID has changed the labor market and the world of work and business.
However, the World Economic Forum also reports that soon employers will divide work equally between humans and machines. Roles requiring human skills will rise, creating jobs as AI takes over others. Experts like the Forum's managing director Saadia Zahidi know that employers recognize the need for and value of reskilling their workers and will invest heavily in their workforce skills and competencies.
AI will impact almost every aspect of business, including hiring and recruiting. Talent acquisition professionals must know and understand AI and the role of conversational AI in recruiting.
Most people understand artificial intelligence as machines and computer systems simulating human processes, such as the robotic manufacturing of products. Artificial intelligence goes beyond robotic assembly though, with applications as varied as speech recognition, natural language processing, and machine vision for visual inspection of quality standards. Many people mistakenly believe that AI will take jobs away from people when the opposite is actually true.
Another aspect of AI that is prevalent is conversational artificial intelligence. Many people may have already interacted with and benefited from conversational AI in the form of chatbots and virtual agents on websites when ordering products and services. Conversational AI uses data, machine learning, and natural language processing in interactions to facilitate and speed up the process of understanding online and in telecommunications. The phone menu giving callers several options for service is a common example of conversational AI that most people have experienced.
Conversational AI is rapidly being adopted in many areas of business for advanced customer service functions to complete routine tasks so human agents can work on more complex issues. This is applicable to recruiting functions such as applicant screening, interview scheduling, and many others as well. It can reduce bias, add human-like conversations to text and chat interactions, and help navigate recruiting communications toward a goal.
Human resources and talent acquisition professionals like Josh Bersin of human capital consultant Deloitte know that recruiting is a well-developed area of AI in human resources. Spending on AI systems in business reaches into the billions. As AI is data-driven, Bersin notes that the sheer size of the recruiting funnel uniquely adapts to AI, with rich data from career site visitors, job ads, and the hiring process.
Additionally, the many steps and tasks in the recruiting process make AI a beneficial tool for automating to free up recruiters for interaction with top candidates. Bersin notes that candidate screening is the most time-consuming aspect of recruiters’ roles and is a perfect fit for AI solutions.
Conversational AI is optimal for processes where conversations are needed at scale, as in applicant screening for availability, credentials, and culture fit.
Every recruiter has a wish list, and the top of most wish lists is more time for quality communications. Routine recruiting conversations that are outsourced to AI enable recruiters to focus more on quality conversations that impact hiring success. With more time for strategic conversations with hiring managers and top candidates, hiring is positively impacted substantially.
Improving time-to-fill open and critical positions, or volume openings has always been a top goal in recruiting. That goal has moved up the line in importance since the worldwide pandemic drastically changed the business world and job market. Conversational AI enables employers and recruiters to scale recruiting processes and interact with thousands of candidates within hours rather than weeks.
Scheduling interviews is another routine task that conversational AI improves for recruiters and hiring managers. Conversational AI goes a step further from ATS-integrated calendar functions and enables scheduling through text chat.
These are just some of the more common recruiting processes for which AI is used. Increased adoption and advances in conversational AI mean even more possibilities for improving recruiting with this technology.
Bersin sees a lot of promise for the future of conversational AI in recruiting in important areas. Candidate experience is an important part of strategic recruiting, and conversational AI can improve the candidate experience by helping with career advancement. Bersin reminds employers and recruiters that the power of questions asked in conversational AI is invaluable to candidates to give insight into career goals and advance career potential. AI can also connect candidates to other employment opportunities that might be a better fit.
Conversational AI reduces friction in recruiting, improving conversation quality and efficiency. Handling applicants at scale lets companies adapt quickly to change in uncertain job markets and economies.
AI improves the experiences to which it’s applied. Another important area of conversational AI for recruiting that Bersin foresees is modeling ideal behavior. Positive conversations with kind and patient AI mean it listens, treats all equally, and offers goodwill when saying no and offering insights and alternatives, things that busy recruiters may not always manage to do. As AI evolves and refines, conversational AI will offer almost limitless improvements to recruiting processes and busy recruiters and hiring managers.