Like with many technical innovations, the use of artificial intelligence raises questions in terms of ethics, whereby a high level of uncertainty in terms of moral and ethical aspects is generally the main issue.
A major argument is that, by using a machine, the humanity factor in the personnel selection process is omitted in some areas. This raises questions like: “As humans, are we not worthy of more than just a machine judging us?”
How to handle AI errors
In terms of morality and organisation, the question is also raised as to whether we want to actually allow artificial intelligence, so a machine, to make job decisions, which are important for the future, instead of a human being.
Another point in this regard is that it is difficult for there to be consequences for AI in the event of errors and, in contrast to a human being, it cannot be dismissed or have feedback meetings, for example. Therefore, when using artificial intelligence, new methods must be found for dealing with artificial intelligence as a kind of employee.
Occupational psychology aspects
From an occupational psychology perspective, there are a few issues to take into consideration. In particular, the loss – or at least the large change – in positions in the workplace. Researchers in Mannheim predict that in the next 10-20 years, around 40-50 percent of jobs in Germany will be automated and around 12 percent of all employees will be replaced by machines like artificial intelligence, whereby personnel selection will also be greatly affected. This will inevitably lead to job insecurity and, therefore, numerous negative health and organisational consequences.
Furthermore, from an economic perspective, it must also be considered that artificial intelligence requires a large amount of training and, because of the training data, is of more interest to large companies than to the general population.
It could also lead to mainstream bias through incorrect training. Due to the resulting mishmash of employees, for which an all-too compatible fit of employees to one another will prevail, there is the risk that the necessary discussions about changes and improvements will not take place The desired gain in transparency can also become a disadvantage. After all, at some point, we will no longer know how a continuously and constantly self-training AI makes its decisions or recommendations.
Technical requirements and acceptance
At the moment, there are also continuing technical problems. For example, the speech comprehension of artificial intelligence is still quite poor. The technical framework and the necessary resource requirements are also still unclear at this time.
Candidates also run the risk of being judged by artificial intelligence and being rejected, which can have a negative impact on the company’s image. Furthermore, due to the special application process, the use of AI can be particularly problematic for managers.
Finally, the legal aspect is also important. Not only the existence of secret algorithms must be taken into consideration, but also the general lack of legislation on the issue of artificial intelligence is a large problem.
However, in terms of data protection, AI has the advantage, as anonymisation is easier. Nevertheless, there are also significant disadvantages in this respect. Candidate data can be more easily stored and, therefore, there is the risk of loss of data sovereignty. This is because artificial intelligence is also able to collect all data published on the Internet and use it for making job decisions.
Two sides to every coin
This article takes a more critical view of artificial intelligence To gain a complete picture, you can find an article here, which explains the advantages of artificial intelligence in recruitment.