An article for the 45% of Recruiters that want to learn about AI...but don't know where to start!

AI is here to stay!

It's time to begin embracing AI in Recruitment. I have to admit, it's a bandwagon I haven't been the quickest to jump on. Why? In all honestly, I didn't really understand it. Perhaps I've even been a bit scared of what it means. It reminds me of when self service check-outs began to pop up in supermarkets. I swore I'd always give my custom to the human behind the till. Fast forward a few years, given the option between scanning my own items or waiting for a human... there I am doing it myself every time. I imagine it's going to be the same in recruitment. Resist it all you want, but it's coming, and in the end you'll end up using it.

In my case, part of not wanting to embrace AI, was not understanding it. With that in mind, I attended an excellent LinkedIn event at their London HQ all about AI. Wanting to improve my own knowledge, it was serendipitous to receive an invite for the session.

The point to all this? I've put together an overview of that session that you can use to at least begin to discuss AI and what it means longer term.

The different types of AI

Yes, there's more than one type! Here's an overview to get you started:

• Automation and Workflow - the billy basics of AI. Think of your calendar reminders in Outlook or the spellchecker in Word. Automation is designed as something that can run by itself with little or no human interaction. It follows basic rules to perform repetitive tasks.
• Traditional AI - Makes smart decisions following a set of rules (from data and/or human inputs.) It is trained to do a particular job, but doesn't create anything new. An example of traditional AI is Siri or Alexa - it can pull data to answer your question, but it can't adapt if it doesn't know or doesn't understand! (Annoyingly!)
• Generative AI - The 'next generation' of Artificial Intelligence. Generative AI can create something new. The model learns from a lot of data and then produces new outcomes. For example, if you ask Chat GPT to create a story using a short brief you give it... it'll use it's imagination to do so! You may have heard of the music industry being fearful that Generative AI can write songs on their behalf, or the recent film industry strike against using an actors image to create new films. It's all Generative AI!
• AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) - I imagine this is like what you have seen in dystopian films warning us about creating human like robots. AGI aspires to create machines that are not confined to specific tasks or domains. They can adapt and manage diverse tasks with ease, designed to be lifelong learners, constantly acquiring new knowledge or skills. It learns from experience and can continuously improve it's performance - whether making a medical diagnosis or engaging in philosophical discussions. I have read that it can even cook meals! The future hey!

Should we be fearful of AI?

Rewind a few months, all I could envisage was robots taking over the world, as opposed to understanding all of the positives AI could bring. Apparently, when the humble calculator was introduced many years ago, several mathematicians hysterically predicted the death of maths - students would become reliant on machines and they'd never learn from errors. It could trigger the death of the brain and the end of the need for humans. Sound familiar?

AI is meant to be our shorthand calculator. No more constant long division (menial tasks), that take time and energy. Recruiters will benefit from AI the same way we benefit from calculators... it will make our lives easier; where it doesn't need to be as complicated anymore.

What can Generative AI help with?

If I had a pound for every recruiter who claimed they hated admin, I probably wouldn't be writing an article on LinkedIn. Or I might, from a beach somewhere exotic rather than during my commute on a packed train.

What if I told you Generative AI would transform all of those tedious admin tasks that take up so much time? Rather than be fearful AI is going to steal our jobs, let's anticipate the tasks it can speed up, improve or remove entirely for us (with the right monitoring of course.) Examples include:

• Writing and recording notes from calls and meetings and putting them into your CRM - with prompts and reminders to action next task automatically!
• Creating job profiles from vacancy taking meeting notes
• Writing Job Ads
• Refining Job Ads to target different demographics (ie asking ChatGPT to create a female-centric job advert)
• Finding Passive Candidates
• Providing Data Analytics - for example assessing the ED&I of your candidate pool

Generative AI will enable recruiters to focus on the human element of recruitment.

The role will become more about the soft skills needed to be a true talent advisor. LinkedIn shared that to get ahead of the curve, it's important to start thinking about enhancing the following soft skills of your personnel:

• Empathy
• Problem Solving
• Time Management
• Resilience

As AI grows, the 'human' attributes that make an excellent recruiter will be paramount to relevancy. We were told that:

'40% of the recruitment role will change in the next seven years'

It's an inevitability. So as a Recruitment specialist, it's important to be aware of what's coming, so you're there leading the way, rather than left behind.

Early malpractice to watch out for

As part of the LinkedIn panel, Faye Walshe , Global Director of Innovation & AI at Robert Walters, shared engaging insights on how the global recruiter is adopting and incorporating AI across their organisation. Creating a team of 1000 trailblazers and partnering with Microsoft, Robert Walters have already implemented their own enterprise ChatGPT to use in house.?

Robert Walters want to integrate AI as a ‘co-pilot’ to speed up admin tasks. Faye acknowledged they are constantly mindful that the quality of the output has to remain high, and they assess this at all times.

Some things Robert Walters have already considered regarding AI, which admittedly, I had not!

1. The bias of the Internet. When ChatGPT launched, it garnered 1 million users in five days. Many recruiters are using ChatGPT without considering the source of the information. It uses the internet to generate content. Unfortunately, the internet does have bias from the content within it, which can be the default regurgitated by AI.
2. Copyright and GDPR. Don’t put personal data into free ChatGPT, it needs to be an enterprise version. If recruiters were to put a CV into ChatGPT to create a written profile, this could be against GDPR and a data breach. Furthermore, who has the copyright over the material? Think about how ChatGPT is governed in your agency.?
3. AI Cheats! How do you know how good someone is if ChatGPT can write on their behalf?? Will it also be the case of candidates writing their applications with AI, for a bot to screen their application for a role, and it goes back and forth until a face to face interview?

The AI experts on the panel shared that ultimately, AI will become regulated. It has to be. Perhaps with watermarks to say it's an AI product, or more ID verification. People hiding behind bots to do a job will ultimately be found out, as you can't pretend forever! However, it's useful to be vigilant when interviewing a candidate just how much digital support they've had.

Thinking about AI within your own Recruitment Business

AI is something that all Recruitment leaders must begin to consider. Many are, with 82% of business leaders excited about enhancing productivity and increasing revenue due to the impact of AI (you can share that with your clients to position an AI conversation!)

The fact is, even if you don't want to embrace it, demographics will force our hand. Consider this:

1. With an ageing population and families getting smaller with each generation, there will be inevitable skills gaps as there simply won't be the people needed to do all the work we need. AI will help us plug this gap.
2. Entrants into the market - whether our own employees or future candidates and clients, the younger generation entering the world of work are a generation bought up with smart phones, social media and AI. They will expect AI. Whether we like it or not, there is a swarm of workers who will adopt the tech, run with it and create the next true evolution of the way we work.

Things to consider:

• Define your 'musts' and 'must nots'. Speakers on the panel all emphasied being 'human led, technology powered' - what will this look like in your business?
• You don't have to reinvent the wheel. Can ChatGPT refine and evolve content you already have to create an even better version? Think outside the box on how you can use the intelligence!
• 80% of candidates want human interaction. What processes could you automate, so that your team genuinely has more time to interact with their customers.?
• What soft skills will you require amongst your consultants? What is your plan to up skill them within the medium to long term?
• What data can ChatGPT analyse for you?
• Who can you leverage within your Agency to lead the way? Create a champion network of employees who have already adopted AI or are passionate about doing so. They will drive change and challenge the emergence of AI (social media was the same!)

And Finally...

Like most new things, you’re accountable for your own AI knowledge. It's amazing what you can learn. It blows my mind that if you don't know how to get the best out of ChatGPT, you just ask it: ‘What’s the best prompt I can give you to help me with this?'?and it'll tell you! Madness!

Personally, I'm going all guns blazing, by becoming part of an AI RecTech start up that will be releasing products to support Recruitment Agencies. My particular focus will be on how we can use AI to improve the L&D of our recruitment colleagues, so keep your eyes peeled!

Hopefully this article has given you some ideas to come on the journey with me. It’s OK to be vulnerable, to even be reverse managed. You can learn from people if you empower them.

Your job will then only be about trying to keep up!