Artificial intelligence a.k.a AI is the current buzzword in the HR circles. With AI making waves in multiple industries and across functions such as marketing, sales and customer care, it was only a matter of time before staffing technology experienced the AI revolution. 

In the context of recruitment, however, AI is used for studying large volumes of candidate and business data and generate insights from it in order to make better-informed staffing choices. Artificial intelligence in recruiting is designed to streamline or automate some part of the recruiting workflow, especially the repetitive, high-volume tasks. It essentially involves applying technological learning or problem-solving solutions to the recruitment function.

The Need for AI

Just like any other business function, human resources too has constantly explored the adoption of technology in order to bring efficiency to daily operations. One of the first forays in recruitment technology was the advent of the Application Tracking System (ATS).

While ATS does make the initial selection process easier, it does not offer any predictive insight into what candidate profiles would be a best fit for current business needs. This is where for the longest time, human instinct and intelligence were considered the only dependable tools for effective recruitment. Even then, for most recruiters, finding the right candidate was akin to finding a needle in a haystack. There is also the risk that despite taking utmost care, the wrong individual is hired, causing losses in terms of productivity and turnover costs. However, AI helps recruiters understand a structured/unstructured job description, based on which candidates that fit best are recommended. This added step assures recruiters that candidates are selected based on solid data and insights, opposed to just human instinct. Essentially, AI enhances the overall recruitment experience for the candidate as well as the recruiter, improves process efficiency, removes any bias, reduces the number of communication and process cycles and eventually cuts down on staffing costs.

The Internal Workings of AI in Candidate Search

AI based recruitment platforms often use Natural Language Processing (NLP), deep learning and machine learning to parse large data sets. Irrespective of the sources of candidate acquisition - job aggregators, job agencies, referrals, social media activity or internal stores including the database, job boards, or referred resumes - AI is capable of filtering through humongous content in a short amount of time to arrive at best fits. AI algorithms are largely based on skill taxonomy, which means that while filtering candidates and profiles for a certain role, technology sorts the resumes as per skill relation and gaps. Since AI is capable of making correlations, in turn learning over time, the machine develops an understanding of what works and applies the success criteria to improve future recommendations.

However, if you are thinking of AI as a solution that can fully automate the recruitment process and eliminate manual intervention, think again. The right fit for effective staffing processes in not just artificial intelligence, but rather Augmented Intelligence.

Augmented Intelligence - What Does it Mean?

Where artificial intelligence involves the development of technology to ‘replace’ human intelligence, Augmented Intelligence strives to ‘enhance’ it. Generally, to augment is to make something better by adding to it. Hence, augmented intelligence in recruiting is the use of intelligence to make recruiter decisions more efficient and precise. With the use of augmented intelligence, industry experts acknowledge that in recruitment, it is imperative that decision-making remain human.

As much as data and insights help us make better-informed decisions, they cannot entirely drive recruitment from start to finish. Hence, it is important that recruiters look at automation as a component-based solution that is to be used wherever necessary. When it comes to finding top talent and the right fit, the overall results are highly dependent on a recruiter’s ability to intelligently automate their workflow. 

Augmented Intelligence - A Collaborative Model

Augmented Intelligence brings together recruitment teams and technology, fostering a collaborative culture. With the help of augmented intelligence, recruiters can off-load repetitive, time-intensive tasks and instead take on a strategic role in the process. And, as the adoption of recruitment automation continues to increase, the recruiter’s role will gradually transform.

A recruiter will spend more time communicating and building a rapport with candidates, effectively selling the job and improving the quality of a hire through data driven insights. While augmented hiring technology will assist the human’s decision to hire by providing critical insights, it leaves the data interpretation itself to the human. And, in the face of ever-evolving staffing demands, a thoughtful combination of the “human touch” and powerful technology will revolutionize the recruitment experience.