Artificial Intelligence and Recruitment. The 250 words you need to read

I am getting a lot of questions about Artificial Intelligence and recruitment. I have even been asked to give several speeches on the impact of AI and machine learning on the future of recruitment.

And of course I have little real idea. Nor do most people inside and outside recruitment, but that does not stop a huge amount of pontificating and predicting on the subject, some of it truly laughable.

I will say this, as I believe it to be true.

Any task that takes no time to think about, will be automated.

But where there is nuance and influencing possible, thought, planning and opinion needed – it is much harder for AI to replicate.

So in recruitment, we need to think like this.

Artificial Intelligence frees you up to do much better that which only YOU can do.

Read that again, please, and ponder it a while.

Because that ladies and gentlemen, is selling. That is the bit of your job that will be left once the machines march in.

But I don’t mean ‘selling’ as cold calling, handing out business cards at an event, or spamming candidates around town.

No, I use the word selling in a much more modern, holistic and consultative way.

And that means influencing, persuading, advising, consulting, negotiating, collaborating, acting as an agent for the best talent, and building reputation and brand.

That is the part of the role where the magic happens. Where the value lies.

Are you up to it?

My final word, (for now:) on AI, Machine Learning, and its impact on recruitment? I suspect it will be as it ever was with truly disruptive technology advance.

It’s impact will be vastly overstated in the short-term and hugely underestimated in the long run.

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  • Posted by Greg Savage
  • On February 27, 2018
  • 10 Comments
Tags: artificial intelligence and recruitment, Coaching recruiters, recruitment

10 Comments

Charles
A.I's always work best when partnered with a skilled human. You hit the nail on the head when you said that the A.I will not be able to take over the role of the human side of the Recruiting business, building and nurturing relationships. Whilst many Recruitment industry jobs such as Administrators and Researchers will be lost when the A.I's mature there will always be places for good human focused consultants, even more incentive for people to focus more now on their most valued asset, their relationships.
Darren Connolly
Here’s my 230 Greg, borrowing in part from yours: Every single Recruiter who uses LinkedIn are already benefiting from Artificial Intelligence every time they use the platform. Our staffing partners benefit from AI every time they run a candidate search, post a job or post targeted content for their talent pools or customer base. This drives what we call talent intelligence which is the use of data and insights to drive competitive advantage. In a nutshell you can define Artificial Intelligence as inferences made using data standardisation and machine learning. The great new Greg, is that you are 100% right when you say: “Artificial Intelligence frees you up to do much better that which only YOU can do…And that means influencing, persuading, advising, consulting, negotiating, collaborating, acting as an agent for the best talent, and building reputation and brand.” I couldn’t agree more with this statement! In my opinion, AI will ultimately make Recruitment more interesting and easier for Recruiters by removing the most mundane and repeatable tasks; will help recruiters leverage machine learned knowledge to drive competitive advantage; and ultimately will improve the overall candidate experience. The nuanced needs of a candidate or client will never be replaced by a machine and the future leaders of recruitment will embrace this technology (or in many cases, already have), and will use it to elevate their ability to become trusted advisors for their candidates and strategic partners for their clients.
Alan Whitford
Hi Greg Straight to the heart of the matter, as usual. It really does not matter, imho, what the newest, latest, greatest technology is - it is what the recruiter (and the candidate) will actually do with it. Darren mentions what his "AI" does in terms of matching data points. We had this with Resumix 20 years ago - and were sure then that it was the 'game changer' technology. Yet, even today, most ATS solutions do not reach the same degree of matching accuracy we had then. Why is that? Because we are still using two key documents which are truly unsuited to determinig if an individual can do the job we think needs doing: 1) the job spec itself 2) the CV. So, no matter how great the matching AI engine is, we are still dependent upon the candidate delivering in a cogent manner what her skills, attributes, desires, competence...... are, and how they relate to the job. And we are dependent upon HR/Rec teams translating what the hiring manager really needs to get the job done, much less make progress in that role. So, back to the beginning - that is the value of a truly professional recruiter. Interpreting the needs and requirments of the hiring manager and aligning with the skills/attributes of the candidate. Tnanks for listening. Cheers Al
K Puri
I wouldn't say your 'if it takes time to think about, then it's safe' rule necessarily holds. Does being a grand master at chess take a lot of thinking? Does Go take a lot of thinking? Yes? Well that's one of the first abilities that Google's deepmind is mastering, and rollout and implementation of a similar technology to the industrial/services sector could automate many similar 'thinking' tasks. What humans find hard is often not what computers find hard.. I think the better human-reserved jobs rule involves those that operate over very large domains, contexts and are very large integrators of information. Essentially, making 'sense' of things or creativity. Overall, jobs with original creativity or unexpected decisions may be the most safe.
    Greg Savage
    Yes, you re right In fact you are saying what I was saying only you are saying it better. The chess move CAN be predicted. That was my point. How the chess player will react after he loses, a machine will find harder to deal with.
Debby clement
Just maybe it's possible to be looking at the impact from the wrong end of the periscope... i.e. How it will or will not impact recruiters/employers. Step across the other side of the table. I'd be looking more into the disruption around what it can do for the millions of candidates who want an easier way to find a match totally bypassing any of the intermediaries. Which strangely Hr tech seems to ignore because it's too busy chasing "enterprise class business". Give me a bot to find my next job and happy days oh and that's assuming the wef future workforce predictions and portfolio career impacts are all wrong. But it's fun to fiddle with the predictions.
Jen Dewar
I completely agree! Talent acquisition professionals can use automation to free up a lot of time, so they can focus on more strategic initiatives like employer branding and candidate experience
Kylie Jones
I think, as a recruiter myself, we need to look at the other side of this also with AI. That a lot of jobs in the future will be taken over by Machines and the AI side of the industry. Although we might still have the human aspect of being able to build relationships etc, but with who? a Machine? Just a thought. Looking outside the box, and expanding on the recruiter role. Thanks
Stephen Turnock
Thanks for your great content and comments. I haven't seen any evidence real AI exists yet. Maybe machine learning. Then yes. At the moment it's like John Logi Baird selling his TV's in 1926 as HD ready. Recruiters need to stop talking until having listened a little, as well as pick the phone up and engage in some thought process - perhaps in advance, engage some real BI (brain intel) before engaging mouth and be intuitive about matching those needs and wants. I am all for AI when it exists, however!
Kannan P
Thank you for this insightful article on the evolving role of artificial intelligence in recruitment. Your emphasis on the irreplaceable human elements—such as influencing, persuading, and consulting—resonates deeply. It's a timely reminder that while AI can handle repetitive tasks, the nuanced aspects of recruitment remain a human forte.​ Embracing AI as a tool to augment our capabilities, rather than replace them, is indeed the way forward.

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