AI to improve workplace communication?
BENGALURU: The immediate and biggest use-case for artificial intelligence (AI) in the human resources (HR) space is not just to find talent and recommend the best fit, but to bridge the communication gap between potential recruits and a company, according to speakers at the Shine HR Conclave in Bengaluru. Even as critics of AI continue to fear technology would replace humans in the workforce, including HR employees themselves, machine learning is already being used across various sectors. “Today, a doctor can diagnose using AI, a schoolteacher can personalize learning for a student, a songwriter can write lyrics, a chef can come up with the next new recipe and an HR professional, a recruiter, can find talent with AI. This evolution is happening today,” Amber Grewal, corporate vice-president of global talent acquisition at International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) said in her keynote speech at the conclave. Within HR, talent acquisi- tion is one function that has not evolved much through history. It has remained a largely administrative function. But external disruptors ranging from social transparency to competition and machine learning are making it crucial for it to evolve. AI can auto-create recruitment requirements after analyzing gaps within organizations. If a company decides to go external, the AI assistant can auto-create a job description, source talent, figure out who among the potential recruits are the most suitable for the role, and even initiate communication with them.
“A lot of people (candidates) complain that they don’t get to hear back. There’s this black hole. It’s not personalized; there’s no experience in that area. Your AI could proactively reach out and say let’s schedule a time to connect,” Grewal said.
IBM’S Watson, its AI platform for business, is already capable of doing that.
It can initiate communication with potential recruits so companies don’t lose out on the best fits, and schedule a meeting for them with the hiring managers, Grewal demonstrated at the event. Increased adoption of AI and machine learning will also only improve skilling, speakers said. “Of their own volition, all the people in this generation have learnt how to use a smartphone. They’ve learnt that skill without any significant external pressure within a very short span of time. The good news, therefore, is even though there is a lot of disruption in technology, from a skill perspective, the adaptation is going to get easier,” said Vinod Nair, HR director at Huawei Technologies.