Debunking Top Myths About AI in Talent Acquisition

Do you remember the show "MythBusters"? A geeky yet entertaining pair took to their labs to put myths and urban legends to the test to find out which were true and which were not.

This Halloween, Phenom People's very own myth busters, Ed Newman, Chief Evangelist, and Cliff Jurkiewicz, VP of Strategic Solutions, looked at another myth - well, six myths, actually - around the hottest topic in HR technology: Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Read on for a few highlights from the webinar to learn how we BUSTED these spooky urban legends.

But First…Why Are We Talking About AI?

Robots, chatbots, and any other bots for that matter aren’t the only sources of AI. Many of our interactions with technology today are already powered by AI and we don’t realize it. From browsing your Netflix recommendations to asking Alexa to play your favorite song, getting a text from your refrigerator about your shopping list, or asking Siri for trivia answers, computer systems and infinite data are deeply integrated into our everyday lives to predict our needs and personalize our experiences.

Computer scientist and Coursera co-founder, Andrew Ng, says, "AI is the new electricity," and here at Phenom People we tend to agree. That's why AI doesn't scare us. On the contrary, our entire Talent Relationship Marketing (TRM) Platform is built on the idea that we can change the world of talent acquisition and radically transform the candidate experience with an AI-powered solution.

Still, industries and leaders around the world have doubts and fears about the technology. Read on for two of the top six myths about AI.

Myth #1: Your Job Will Be Replaced by AI

Even though we've seen a 7 times increase in AI investment over the past 18 months, it's critical to remember that in the world of cloud services, machine learning is only as good as your data sets. And it is we humans who set up the very systems that collect extensive data and create improved algorithms for AI accuracy and efficiency.

For AI to be meaningful in the long-term, we need more data. Yet the reality is it's taken humans more than 60 years to build a robot dog that can run, and it may take another couple of decades for the next impressive iteration. So, no, robots are not taking over the world. But just like our robot friends, humans are evolving. And as we evolve our skill sets, creativity, and thinking capabilities, so too will jobs evolve to meet us where we are.

Myth #2: AI Will Takeover The World

Truthfully, there are many limitations to AI. Building a robust and accurate AI platform or product is not an easy task, and the risk of it 'breaking' due to bad data, no data, or machine bias is high. Jurkiewicz says, "You can't make a single mistake, and you can't leapfrog this technology."

Unfortunately, when it comes to AI, if something goes wrong, a simple quick fix won't work. Our CEO Mahe Bayireddi has previously talked about machine bias, in that machines aren't biased at their core - they learn it from the humans that program them. Still, AI helps uncover these biases so that they can be addressed at their origin and fixed.

A low-risk, funny example of machine learning gone wrong? Google "chihuahua or muffin?" and enjoy a good laugh.

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To learn more about the other big four AI myths and hear our dynamic duo debunk each and every one, download the webinar here. Stick around until the end for expertly answered questions on what companies must do to be successful with AI, how to apply AI to the candidate experience, the risk of AI in the recruitment space, and more.

Want even deeper AI insights in the world of recruiting and HR technology? Join our next webinar, The Science of AI for Talent Acquisition, on Thursday, November 29 at 2 p.m. ET/ 11a.m. PT.