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Human Resources & Artificial Technology: For Amazon, At Least, That Idea Might Be On Hold


Those in the Human Resources field might have taken note of an article I posted earlier this month about how artificial intelligence ("AI") has become more prevalent in the Human Resources field.  That article noted that some employers have started to use AI to help screen applicants for positions, sort resumes, and identify "ideal" candidates for the employer to consider.  Apparently, utilizing AI in these Human Resources roles has streamlined the hiring process for many employers and cut back on the oftentimes prolonged delay that come with hiring a new employee.

For those in the Human Resources field that might have been starting to sweat the long term viability of their positions (with AI appearing to be on the cusp of taking some Human Resources positions), it appears that can wait, at least for some at Amazon.  It was announced last week that Amazon had previously scrapped an AI program that was created to review job applicants' resumes.  That program was trained to vet applicants based on patters in resumes submitted to the company over a ten year period.  Sound good?  Sure.  The problem?  Most of those resumes over the ten year period came from men...which means the AI program was in effect trained to identify male applicants' resumes and favor those over females.  The program apparently penalized resumes that included the word "women's" and downgraded graduates of two all women's colleges.  Although Amazon tweaked the program to make them neutral in regard to those particular terms, it became apparent that there was no guarantee that the machines would not find another way to sort candidates in a different, discriminatory manner.

While Amazon stated that the program "was never used by Amazon recruiters to evaluate candidates", no further elaboration was given.  Of course the apparent discriminatory bias of this AI program does not spell the end for the continued implementation of technology in the workplace, including Human Resources.  With many in the Human Resources field expecting AI to become a regular part of their work within the coming years, this new from Amazon, if anything, is merely a brief stop and a bit of bad press as AI becomes more of a day to day component for many in the workforce.


For additional information:  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-jobs-automation-insight/amazon-scraps-secret-ai-recruiting-tool-that-showed-bias-against-women-idUSKCN1MK08G

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