There is potential for huge benefits when it comes to AI in HR, including significantly broadening the reach of recruiters and allowing businesses to more effectively scour the Earth for high-quality job candidates. It offers the chance to correct for human errors that are embedded in a company’s hiring processes but that often go unchallenged and unnoticed.
But that doesn’t mean AI will replace humans, even in human resources. Instead, AI is slated to empower remaining workers to dedicate more time to tasks that require a human touch.
In many smaller organizations, HR personnel have long had to dedicate substantial time to bureaucratic tasks that take time away from the more important work of closely evaluating job applicants and considering ways to better-engage the workforce. By automating much of that work, HR leaders will be able to devote themselves to the most interesting and important parts of their jobs.
Top Use Cases for AI in HR
A survey at the end of 2017 of nearly 800 talent acquisition professionals by Korn Ferry found 55% believed AI had already changed the way their organization recruits. The majority said the changes have been positive, increasing the quality of candidates and hires.
Here are the top ways today’s HR organizations are already using AI:
- Recruiting with greater precision
- Attracting higher-quality applicants
- Reducing bias in hiring and promotion processes
- Automated recruiting
- Smoother background verification
- Deeper understanding of employee satisfaction
Watch: AI at Work in Recruiting
Using Data Science and Decision Science to Battle Biases and Bottlenecks in Recruiting
Maryam Jahanshahi, Research Scientist at TapRecruit
What’s Next?
The use cases are strong, but there is still a fair amount of doubt. Employees deliver a decidedly mixed judgment on the ability of their HR departments to modernize. 42% of those surveyed in a study by IBM and Harris Insights said they did not believe their organization’s HR leaders could execute AI-enabled strategies
With all of that doubt, what will it take for HR departments to get ahead in the age of AI? Spoiler alert: there isn’t a magic bullet, one-size-fits-all solution — it will take a combination of organizational change in people, processes, and technology to empower all HR staff to use data in their day-to-day work.