While AI remains a topic of much discussion, with suggestions that the technology could replace jobs, Managing Director of iSG Technology Talent Partners, Geoff Shepherd, explains to KAIR how it won’t replace roles but will transform them.
He comments: “Throughout history every technological advancement or evolution has been regarded with caution. The suggestion being that it will take jobs. In reality, technology neither takes jobs nor creates them. Instead, it transforms them. As a result, business technologies have become tools to either aid humans or drive down costs and allows businesses to expand. The same will be the case with AI, when it is used correctly.
“As an example, using AI to reduce the administrative burden that is placed on recruiters will allow them to spend more time with clients and candidates. Given we work in an industry that relies on relationships, far from dehumanising recruitment, AI will provide us with the opportunity to redirect our energies where it matters most.”
In addition to reducing administration, Geoff explains how new technologies can improve efficiencies if they are embraced, rather than avoided, by businesses.
He continues: “If we use AI correctly and for the jobs where it can add most value, those that are repetitive for example, we can shorten the recruitment cycle. Further benefits come from the technology eliminating any bias.
“I really believe that in time AI will become ubiquitous in the way that CRM, social media and even electricity has. Once upon a time large organisations had Chief Electricity Officers. It’s so embedded within our daily lives now that we don’t talk about it. The same is quickly becoming true of digital technologies and is certainly the case for social media, which is an everyday tool.
“AI technologies will become pervasive to the extent that we simply use them without talking about it. In 2024 we’ll see AI move into continuous interactions, monitoring activity, staging interventions and increasingly sophisticated interaction. In recruitment there may be a shift towards AI taking on more of the hiring process but I’d caution against this as you can automate the whole process but that doesn’t mitigate the risk or liability.”
Despite the benefits, Geoff suggests that companies should approach and use AI with caution in order to avoid some very probable pitfalls.
He continues: “There is a risk that businesses over rely on AI, which in turn will lead to businesses losing the personal touch. A lack of insight could very quickly lead to great candidates being ignored and therefore jobs going to the wrong people.
“Most businesses see AI as a magic bullet, and this isn’t the case. We must prepare for it and carefully consider where it can be used to deliver the best results rather than making assumptions about where it could add value.
“Recruitment agencies are already reliant on CRMs replete with old, incomplete and inaccurate data, while CV’s are often, to differing degrees, a fabrication of reality. By its very nature, setting AI loose on bad data is never going to deliver positive results.
“The costs of AI are likely to fall dramatically in line with innovation and new product roll outs, and those that are prepared, ready and willing to embrace it will be those that also see the strongest returns from a tool that will become common practice within the next few years.”
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