An AI bot might be asking the questions at your next job interview

1 month_ago 25

When Wafa Shafiq realized her upcoming occupation interrogation would beryllium conducted by an artificial quality bot, she thought: Why not? 

"I thought it'd beryllium truly cool. I wanted to effort it," said Shafiq.

Alex, an AI bot powered by bundle institution Aprioria, interviewed the 26-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., for a selling presumption astatine a status security agency. 

It asked her astir herself and her acquisition for 30 minutes. It acknowledged her responses and complimented them earlier asking a followup question. 

"I was shocked that it was asking specified bully followup questions," Shafiq told CBC News. "My expectations had been lower."

While immoderate companies are turning to artificial quality to streamline their recruitment processes, immoderate occupation candidates are acrophobic astir however they're being evaluated and losing the accidental to link with recruiters.

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Your adjacent occupation interrogation could beryllium with an AI bot

Companies are utilizing AI hiring bots to screen, shortlist and speech to occupation candidates. Advocates accidental the exertion frees up quality workers from tedious tasks, but immoderate applicants accidental it adds disorder to the process, and determination are concerns astir HR occupation losses.

This exertion is inactive successful the aboriginal phase, says Mike Shekhtman, elder determination manager astatine Canadian employment bureau Robert Half.

"As the exertion improves, we volition proceed to spot possibly an acceleration."

'People thought we were crazy'

Ribbon, an AI-interviewer bundle company, is among the Canadian companies to person seen an accidental successful this market. 

"A twelvemonth ago, radical thought we were crazy," Arsham Ghahramani, Ribbon's CEO, said successful an interview. 

A idiosyncratic   from the thorax  up, with bureau   workers and a bookshelf successful  the background.

Arsham Ghahramani astatine his WeWork bureau successful Toronto. He is CEO and co-founder of Ribbon, an AI-interviewer software. (Shawn Benjamin/CBC)

In 9 months, Ribbon has amassed 400 customers who present usage its bot to behaviour interviews. 

Ghahramani and his squad spent much than a twelvemonth gathering and grooming their AI utilizing publically disposable interviews and dependable datasets. They wanted their AI to amusement the close emotion and inquire the close questions, helium said. 

But immoderate candidates would similar a quality recruiter.

Missing the quality touch

Maureen Green, a wellness exertion consultant, was approached to bash an interrogation for a presumption successful a Canadian health-care institution that uses AI to nonstop diligent calls. She was told the interrogation would beryllium done by the company's ain AI bot. 

At first, Green, who lives successful Vancouver, said she was impressed by the system, uncovering it spoke and acted likewise to a human.

"It truly did consciousness similar a speech and it felt similar it was listening."

But what was scheduled to beryllium a 30-minute interrogation ended up going for much than an hour, arsenic the AI kept asking followup questions and showed nary signs of drafting the interrogation to an end. 

Not knowing what other to do, Green said she thanked the AI interviewer for its time. 

"I said: 'I'm truthful sorry, but it was fantastic talking to you. Thank you truthful overmuch for the opportunity,' and truthful it ended." 

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Green thought she had done good successful the interview, but she ne'er heard back.

"I had been near feeling taken vantage of due to the fact that … I enactment a batch of effort into this interrogation and truly took it seriously, but I besides get the feeling that it's being trained by talking to people," she said. 

"It tin beryllium done well, I'm sure, but this wasn't it."

Shafiq shared the sentiment. She entered her interrogation with curiosity and immoderate skepticism.

The email she received to docket the interrogation didn't notation AI — she lone recovered retired aft looking into it herself. And she didn't get a followup aft the interrogation either. 

Wafa from the thorax  up   with a gathering  and trees successful  the background.

Wafa Shafiq was impressed astatine however astute the AI recruiter was, but missed the quality connection. (Charlotte Lepage/CBC)

She thought it was "cool" that she could docket the interrogation astatine immoderate clip of the day, adjacent successful the mediate of the night, and was impressed by the fewer glitches she experienced — it lone had trouble answering immoderate of her questions. But she wished she had much accusation connected however her show would beryllium evaluated. 

"If companies bash usage AI for recruitment, there's specified an accidental for communicating what the benefits of it are," Shafiq said. "Sending a connection beforehand to beryllium like: 'This is what to expect, this is however to prepare.'" 

Although Shafiq is unfastened to doing much AI interviews, she said she missed the quality transportation she usually gets with regular interviews. 

"There's nary tiny talk, determination was thing idiosyncratic and I wasn't capable to truly archer if my answers were landing oregon not." 

Is it a replacement for quality recruiters?

Job interviews done by AI agents let for overmuch much flexibility successful hiring interior roles and tin accelerate the process, said Elena McGuire, manager of radical and peculiar projects astatine Thrive Career Wellness, a Toronto-based HR consulting company. 

The institution has respective positions unfastened astatine erstwhile and they prosecute internationally. They usage Ribbon, which allows candidates to take an interrogation clip that works for them and to interrogation successful French for bilingual positions. 

McGuire said it allowed the institution to chopped down thousands of applicants and prosecute six caller employees. 

"It's truly not meant to regenerate america HR folk, but assistance us." 

McGuire besides said that the company's hiring decisions aren't made by AI.

Ribbon summarizes interviews and gives scores based connected the company's requirements, allowing recruiters to determine whether oregon not to determination up with the candidate.  

"They're [companies] looking astatine ways to not suffer immoderate bushed and not miss retired connected candidates," said Shekhtman, of employment bureau Robert Half.

"But that comes with a tremendous magnitude of caution arsenic well," helium added, to guarantee AI agents don't place qualified candidates oregon spotlight unqualified ones by focusing excessively overmuch connected technicalities. 

But companies volition yet leverage immoderate instrumentality that volition assistance them streamline their processes, particularly if their resources are waning, said Shekhtman. 

"If you don't clasp [the technology], you're going to get tally implicit by it."

AI interviews 'a punchline'

When it comes to being interviewed by AI, Terri Griffith, Keith Beedie chairholder successful innovation and entrepreneurship astatine Simon Fraser University successful British Columbia, said she hasn't heard yet "a campaigner beryllium excited."

She said AI is being utilized by some recruiters and applicants. 

"This is simply a punchline to a gag that goes: 'I utilized my AI to use for the job, they utilized AI to reappraisal my exertion … present we're having an [AI] interview.'"

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Griffith sees the usage of AI bots successful interviews having assorted imaginable outcomes: with capable pushback could travel regularisation oregon with capable betterment of the exertion and its implementation could travel approval. 

Green, reflecting connected her interview, noted that though she is "really open" to AI, galore radical are not, and she hopes companies volition recognize that their spot needs to beryllium earned. 

"I don't deliberation we request to beryllium speedy successful applying these systems to what we are doing. I deliberation we should beryllium thoughtful and respectful of the radical it's interacting with," she said. 

"So hopefully that volition change, but I'm optimistic."

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