Busted: The AI Arms Race in Job Applications
Unchecked AI Competition in Workforce Recruitment Creates Chaos for All Participants
It's time to dust off those microphones and speakers, HR departments. Candidates are fighting back against years of automated recruitment tools with a new weapon: AI. And they're absolutely unwilling to play nice.
Stunned? Huh, we bet you didn't see that coming, did you?
But let's rewind a little. Recruiters first adopted these high-tech tools in the roaring 2010s with the best intentions. Efficiency. Fairness. Less human bias. The works!
Ah, the good ol' days. Remember "Asynchronous video interviews"? Job applicants answering questions alone, in front of their webcams, with no human on the other side? And an AI system assessing their responses? Not a hit with jobseekers, apparently.
Fast forward to 2021, and I was reporting on research that warned young people found these new tools confusing, dehumanizing, and draining. And boy, did I hear back about that!
"I did one of these, and it was the hardest, most humiliating experience I've ever encountered," sighed one older man. "An interview itself is stressful enough, but then you throw this at them. I didn't mind admitting I traveled and did one from a hotel (not an ideal setup with my iPad balancing on a suitcase) for a company I had dreamed about for 30 years. The pressure was so intense I messed it up." Afterwards, he said, he sat in his hotel room and wept.
Yikes, doesn't sound too fun, right? So it's no wonder that jobseekers have turned to the new chatbot sensation, ChatGPT, in a desperate attempt to speed up the process... or "game" the system.
If you haven't heard yet, videos have popped up on TikTok showing people demonstrating how to use ChatGPT to answer questions during asynchronous video interviews, then simply reading out the responses.
Not great, but Watergate's cakewalk, am I right?
So, what are the solutions? Online assessments that are difficult to manipulate - like short games - might offer a potential way out. Recruiters are thinking about bringing back the human touch earlier in the process, too, as it seems that AI alone might not be the answer.
Even HireVue, a big player in the asynchronous video interview market, acknowledged in a report last year that "one of the best ways to reduce cheating behaviors of all types is to utilize a multi-stage workflow in which a candidate's knowledge, skills, and abilities are validated by an interviewer in a live interview setting."
But hey, here's the catch: introducing human factors could mean introducing bias and inconsistency. Maybe there's no easy solution to this conundrum.
Problems solved by AI don't tend to stay solved for long, huh?
sarah.oconnor@our website
:-)
Bonus Facts:
- Excessive use of AI by job applicants can lead to dishonest presentations of skills and qualifications, making it difficult for employers to make informed hiring decisions.
- AI-based solutions can inadvertently perpetuate biases in the recruitment process due to their reliance on data that may reflect existing biases, reinforcing discriminatory hiring practices.
- Implementing multi-stage workflows, increased transparency, and human verification can help mitigate these concerns and encourage fairer hiring practices.
- Educating employers and job applicants on responsible AI use can play a role in promoting ethical and unbiased hiring practices in the future.
- Governments are increasingly placing increased emphasis on establishing regulations for AI in employment decision-making to promote fairness and transparency in the hiring process.
- In the face of AI-driven recruitment tools that job applicants find confusing, dehumanizing, and stressful, they've turned to the latest chatbot sensation, ChatGPT, to speed up the application process or potentially manipulate the system.
- The recurring issue of excessive AI use in job applications can result in dishonest presentations of skills and qualifications, making it challenging for employers to make informed hiring decisions.
- To combat the problems of AI-based solutions perpetuating biases in the recruitment process, implementing multi-stage workflows, increased transparency, and human verification can help foster fairer hiring practices.
- As online assessments that are difficult to manipulate may provide a solution, recruiters are considering bringing back the human touch earlier in the process to supplement the potential shortcomings of AI alone.
- The use of AI in job applications doesn't seem to offer a permanent solution, as employers must remain vigilant, educate themselves and job seekers about responsible AI use, and advocate for fair regulations to promote transparent and unbiased hiring practices.
