'AI can help improve diversity in hiring, but only when used under the right conditions and organisational support'
Using artificial intelligence to boost diversity in recruitment is not enough, according to a new report that comes amid growing use of AI tools in the hiring process.
Research from the University of South Australia (UniSA) recently looked at how AI use in hiring decisions can help increase diversity in workplace recruitment.
It found that "providing a reliable, diversity-considerate AI-based decision support tool to decision-makers does not automatically lead to diversity enhancement".
"Diversity only improves when the AI system can explain its decisions in terms of diversity, when hiring focuses on qualitative goals and not just numbers, and when an organisation has clear diversity guidelines," said Connie Zheng, the author of the report, in a statement.
The findings come as three in four HR professionals globally said they use AI tools weekly, with 31% of them saying they use it for candidate screening, according to a HireVue report this year.
In Australia, nearly a quarter of HR leaders who responded in an Australian HR Institute report last year said they are using AI, either fully or partially, to help with screening and shortlisting. Another 25% said they are planning to do so in the future.
Source: The State of AI in Human Resources
Zheng's research similarly noted that some companies still have concerns about the use of in hiring decisions because of its limitations, especially on biased data.
"Despite these reservations, many organisations view AI as a way to significantly save costs by streamlining manual processes," Zheng said.
"Some companies have the mindset that using AI in HR is efficiency-driven – it will make them work faster. The main goal of using AI is to expedite the process, particularly when dealing with large volumes of job applications."
But the associate professor at UniSA warned that the problem with putting efficiency as the main goal is leaving diversity issues in the back seat.
"In short, AI can help improve diversity in hiring, but only when used under the right conditions and organisational support for the application of new technology, as well as clear diversity, equity, and inclusion guidelines," she said.
"Unless the organisation and its hirers are conscious about diversity and justice issues, using AI for talent acquisition isn't going to lead to more diverse and inclusive outcomes."
The research explores the growing impact of AI tools in the recruitment process.
A recent study from the University of Melbourne also found that the implementation of AI in hiring systems has the potential to reinforce "traditional forms of hiring discrimination," create new forms of structural discrimination, and even pave the way for intentional discrimination.
