AI in talent acquisition: finding the right balance 

April 2, 2022 Updated: February 2, 2024 5 min read

As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more popular, it can be tempting to think that automated tools can be used across the entire recruitment funnel. While there are considerable advantages to integrating AI into HR—things can (and will) go wrong if empathy and personalized communication are forgotten altogether.    

In this blog post, we’ll look into a range of use cases for AI within HR while also staying mindful that, ultimately, the human element of recruiting is still just as important. 

Using AI as a Talent Acquisition Tool

As we navigate into the New Normal, talent acquisition is just one of the many aspects of business that are changing. Talent acquisition is subtly different from regular recruitment—in that it focuses more on anticipating future needs, nurturing a pipeline of potential top talent, and creating a positive candidate experience.     

There are many opportunities for AI to help refine and improve the results of talent acquisition teams. That’s why the market for AI platforms in the talent acquisition space is predicted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.6 percent through 2027.

AI can be used to streamline your talent acquisition processes by helping you hire faster and hire better. AI ultimately frees up more time spent on administrative tasks through the recruiting process. This allows talent acquisition leaders to focus on the human side of talent acquisition—developing deeper relationships with new hires or candidates in the pipeline. Once that’s achieved, AI still has a significant role to play when it comes to increasing efficiencies in the recruitment process overall. 

How Is AI Helping HR Teams and Recruiters Today?

Right now, the job market is candidate-driven. While this is great news for the economy overall, it does place additional pressure on HR leaders and managers. The war for talent means it’s more important than ever before for companies to identify the best talent—and be able to offer the right candidate a job faster than the competition.

AI tools can be used to streamline many different aspects of recruitment processes, including: 

  • Candidate sourcing. Leveraging AI automation, including predictive analytics, can help identify passive candidates, source qualified candidates from different groups, or build a talent pool through proactive recruitment.      
  • Candidate screening. Intelligent, real-time interview solutions incorporating AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP) can save significant time and help to accurately assess applicants on an equal basis.  
  • Diversity hiring. Using standardized interviews powered by AI can help companies meet their diversity hiring goals and make sure that the best candidates are selected using objective criteria.     

Benefits of Using AI in Your Recruiting Toolkit

If you’re still not using AI recruitment software in your HR processes—there’s no time like the present to get started.  

Artificial intelligence in talent acquisition can help improve a range of recruitment metrics, including time to hire and quality of hire. Tracking these metrics helps companies move towards becoming more data-driven, which ultimately helps you better track and hit your goals. 

One of the most significant improvements to recruitment that AI can offer is reducing unconscious bias and improving the diversity of your company. As Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) becomes a critical aspect for many potential employees, demonstrating that you have concrete strategies in place to meet your DEIB goals is vital.  

Maintaining the Right Balance

While AI is an excellent addition to your HR toolkit—there are some dangers in becoming too reliant on technology. Don’t forget that the judgment of humans still plays an important role throughout the candidate’s journey. Finding the right balance between the two is crucial.   

The Unintended Consequences of AI in Recruiting

The main risk of AI in HR is when organizations become too reliant upon it to make decisions for them. AI should never replace human decision-making in the interview process—it should augment it. Unintentional bias can become evident in algorithms over time—which ultimately hinders an organization’s ability to recognize great talent and perpetuates bias in their hiring process.

A high-profile example of AI gone wrong was Amazon’s attempt at building a hiring tool that could be used to give candidates a rating—much like the ratings given to products on their website. Unfortunately, over time, the technology taught itself to prioritize applications from men for technical roles. While the now-disbanded tool was more experimental than something used to evaluate candidates in real life, it’s a stark warning that machine learning is far from perfect.     

How to Use AI to Enhance the Human Experience

AI should enhance a recruiting team’s hiring pability to delver better interviews andi fairly and accurately assess a potential candidate’s skills. By leveraging AI in the hiring process, like with an intelligent interview solution such as Clovers, hiring managers can uncover bias both during interviews and afterward as they identify the best applicant. 

It’s also critical to provide all candidates a fair opportunity when applying for a job, so employers need to ensure they are asking equitable, consistent questions. Using an AI-powered interview solution like Clovers can provide interviewers with guided interview questions to ensure consistent interviews that uncover the right-fit candidates, every time. 

Harnessing the Power of AI and HR

The use of AI has already had a significant impact on HR, but it’s important to acknowledge it does have limitations. It can never—and should never—replace human interactions within the candidate experience. After all, HR is called HR for a reason—we’re always going to need human intelligence and the input of people. 

That said, AI has undeniably become a crucial function of human resource management. From decreasing bias to ensuring an equitable and fair selection process, many parts of the recruiting workflow can be positively transformed by leveraging this powerful technology.    

Give Your Interview Process an AI-Powered Boost

Need help eliminating bias and ensuring a more inclusive interview process? Schedule a demo to learn how Clovers’ interview intelligence platform can help.

Jackie White headshot

Jackie brings over a decade of HR technology experience to Clovers. She’s passionate about helping companies build talented and diverse (dream) teams and delivering an incredible hiring experience to everyone involved.

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