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Introduction
In 2018, the artificial intelligence (AI) industry was valued at a staggering $1.2tn according to Lovelock et al. (2018) and 61 per cent of businesses were reportedly using AI somewhere across their organisation (Narrative Science, 2018). No one could have predicted the meteoric rise of AI-based technologies to such a high level of ubiquity so rapidly and so soon. However, the justification for such outstanding growth makes a lot of sense from a business perspective. AI has the potential to significantly increase profitability by 30 per cent (Purdy and Daugherty, 2017). Even then, these figures are growing at a rate so alarming that regulators and academics are struggling to keep up.
Despite this promising trend, the field of AI in recruitment and selection (R&S) remains hugely underdeveloped. On the practitioner side, the literature is overly optimistic and paints a picture that is almost too positive. While on the academic side, the literature remains close to inexistent and the scarce literature available is dominated by fictional credibility (Oksanen, 2018).
The purpose of this study is, therefore, to explore the current use of AI in the R&S of candidates. More specifically, this research investigates the level, rate and potential adoption areas of AI-tools across the hiring process.
Methodology
To carry out this investigation, a two-step approach was adopted. Firstly, the literature was extensively reviewed to identify potential AI-application areas supporting the R&S process. In light of the scarce and poor quality of scholarly articles for this specific research area, most of the data were sourced from practitioner reports. So, to ensure reliability and validity, specific vetting factors were applied including strong references, credible authors (i.e. experience and education), and absence of bias. Naturally, these reports have their limitations, which is that the organisations behind them have their own agendas and are notorious for painting a picture that may not objectively reflect the reality of AI in R&S.
Secondly, primary research was carried out in the form of eight semi-structured thematic interviews with different types of R&S specialists including HR managers, consultants and academics to evaluate how much of the AI-applications identified in the literature review are being used in practice.
Findings
There seems to be a total of 11 areas where AI-tools can be applied to...