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Is AI Really Ready to Replace HR?
In a recent news, a manager’s experiment to test his company’s recruitment system backfired, resulting in the termination of the HR team after his own CV was auto-rejected. But was it fair?
The problem? A configuration error in the ATS looking for outdated skills (AngularJS) instead of the modern framework (Angular). This error went unnoticed for months, with HR relying solely on the system and failing to manually review resumes.
Is all the blame on HR?
Should an automated system have such control over hiring? This raises the question: Can AI truly replace human judgment in recruitment, a process filled with nuances? The HR team over-trusted the AI, resulting in no hires, no oversight, and their own dismissal.
Shouldn't resumes, crafted with effort, receive more thoughtful attention? Are we risking qualified talent for efficiency?
This incident forces us to rethink AI in hiring, are we sacrificing fairness, empathy, and context?
Let me know what you think
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Paweł Puchalski
I think that the problem is quite deep.
First of all, ATS is not AI and it was the problem with configuration. Person who is responsible for configuration is responsible in the given case and should face the consequences.
That being said. I'm not a big fan of ATS, it helps find people with the most optimized CVs and not necessarily the best people. (Think of it as SEO back in the days, the first pages were the ones that cracked the code, or just bought backlinks on eBay)
On the other hand, the amount of applicants now is enormous and it is very hard to go through all the applications (also very often recruiters lack expertise in the technologies that they recruit for).
I somehow believe that as long as we don't have any kind of standard for writing CVs then ATS will miss some talent, but everyone in this case needs to ask the question: Can I miss talent or should I pay more in man hours for going through every application?
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@pawel_puchalski Thanks for your thoughtful insights! You raise an excellent point about the distinction between ATS and AI. But, that said, we have many tools now that use AI extensively on ATS. The configuration issue highlights the importance of having human oversight, especially when it comes to something as critical as hiring.
Your comparison to SEO is spot on; while ATS can help filter candidates, it often favors those who know how to optimize their resumes rather than those who may have the skills and potential to excel in the role. This raises an important question: how do we balance efficiency with the need to find the right talent?
I agree that a standardized approach to CV writing could alleviate some of these issues, but dont you think it might also stifle individuality and creativity. It’s a tricky balance to strike. Ultimately, it all sums up to how technology and human judgment can go hand-in-hand rather than replacing it. Atleast we might be able ensure that we don’t overlook qualified candidates.
