AI, DEI AND HIRING: TOMORROW’S WORKFORCE
After such fervor in previous years, 2023 was an incredibly disheartening year in terms of company diversity, equity and inclusion effort. As the year went on, we saw more companies backsliding on their initial commitment to prioritizing diversity from a hiring and internal culture perspective. Moving into the new year, we collectively need to do better. As recruiters, we have an important role to play in helping companies build more diverse and equitable workforces. Building diverse teams is not only morally the right thing to do, but diverse working groups have been shown to be more creative, innovative, and profitable.
This year at Monday, we continued our efforts in advocating for organizational change within the companies we work with and partnered with clients to broaden the candidate search to tap into incredibly diverse talent. However, we recognize that specializing in diverse talent isn’t something that every recruiter or hiring manager is equipped for, which is why artificial intelligence can be a game-changer for connecting companies with more diverse talent pools.
However, AI is not a silver bullet cure-all - it also comes with risks. In this post, we’ll explore the main positives AI can bring to the table, along with a few ways it could actually undermine inclusion efforts if not thoughtfully applied.
Here are three key ways AI is improving diversity in recruitment and hiring:
Eliminating Biased Language: AI text analysis tools can scan job descriptions and other hiring materials to identify subtly biased language that could dissuade candidates from diverse backgrounds from applying. Things like unnecessarily masculine coded words or ableist language can be flagged and replaced. The algorithms can also suggest more inclusive phrasing. This helps attract a more balanced applicant pool from the start.
Objective Resume Screening: With names and other potentially identifying details removed can be reviewed by AI algorithms to score applicants based on skills, experience, and aptitude. This minimizes unconscious bias during initial candidate screening. The most promising candidates are recommended for further interviews based on merit alone.
Matching Algorithms: Sophisticated AI matching algorithms can take skills, qualifications, interests, and more into account when recommending the most promising candidates for a given role. By matching on factors directly related to success on the job despite ethnic, gender, or other differences, these AIs provide an equitable and performance-focused shortlist of people to consider.
The Perils of AI
Yes, AI is bound to change the ways in which we work as recruiters because of its streamlining and efficiency; however, it is not without its flaws. As much as it can help, it also risks reinforcing existing problems if not thoughtfully created and applied. Recently, there was a case against Workday for allegedly “disqualifying applicants who are Black, disabled or over the age of 40 at a disproportionate rate”*. Workday provides screening for many companies and, according to the lawsuit, “allegedly allows the preselection of applicants outside of protected categories, and the tools allegedly rely on algorithms and inputs created by humans who often have conscious and unconscious motivations to discriminate.”* Monday Talent’s DEI specialist, Tierney Yates, reminds us that AI was developed by a human, so naturally, there will be some sort of bias embedded in the technology, “Platforms like Chatgpt, Claude.Ai and Bard spit out information from 2021 onwards, and people are taking this information and regurgitating it which can be very harmful. There’s no one checking the accuracy or bias of this information from infancy, so we continue this cycle of systemic bias.” This is why it’s critical to have diverse trained teams working with AI for an added layer of revising AI outcomes, so we’re mitigating bias.
Other issues that AI raises are transparency and a one-size solution for diversity. The inner workings of complex AI systems can be opaque, making it harder to catch issues of bias or incorrect assumptions. Lack of transparency undermines inclusion efforts. Additionally, when it comes to DEI, every company has its own unique culture and diversity objectives. Rather than taking a customized approach, some AI tools can mistakenly try to universally dictate what “diversity” means.
The key is balance. Yes, responsible use of AI can provide helpful assistance for companies genuinely wanting to improve diversity, accessibility, and inclusion. But technologies cannot be a stand-in for doing the hard institutional and cultural work needed to effect real change. Recruiters play a crucial role in advocating for holistic initiatives that combine a nuanced, transparent, and thoughtful AI approach alongside continuous education, cultural rethinking, and leadership commitment.
*Workday AI Biased Against Black, Older Applicants, Suit Says (1). (n.d.). News.bloomberglaw.com. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/workday-ai-biased-against-black-disabled-applicants-suit-says
