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Job interviews: human or AI more effective? Photo: Midjourney

Researchers from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Erasmus University Rotterdam have published new findings on the ability of artificial intelligence to screen outstanding candidates.

The results are not pleasant for human recruiters. However, they give business leaders new data to consider when deciding whether to invest in AI.

Working with a recruitment firm, the team randomly assigned 67,000 candidates to be interviewed by an AI voice agent, a human recruiter, or a choice of two. In all cases, humans made the final hiring decisions for entry-level customer service positions in the Philippines, based on the candidates’ performance in interviews and a standardized test.

AI-led interviews generated 12% more job offers and 17% higher retention after at least the first month. The paper, which is now available for public comment, found that AI voice agents covered significantly more key topics than human-led interviews, giving employers more relevant information to make decisions.

Part of that is because—as lead author Brian Jabarian of Booth notes—AI talks less and encourages candidates to talk more, a helpful reminder for anyone interviewing candidates. Plus, when you have to conduct thousands of interviews, interviewers get tired (as opposed to AI) and sometimes forget to ask some questions.

A small number of candidates were “allergic” to being interviewed by AI: about 5% of candidates scheduled with AI ended the call because they did not want to talk to the bot. Voice agents also had technical problems in 7% of cases. Candidates rated AI voices as “significantly less natural.”

However, among the group of candidates who volunteered their feedback, 70% of those who experienced an AI-led interview said it was a positive experience, compared to about half of those who interviewed by humans. This surprised many professional recruiters, most of whom expected AI to do worse.

Jabarian said he was also “quite surprised” by how well the AI ​​voice agent picked up on social interactions – a skill that is often considered a uniquely human strength.

Another interesting finding: nearly four-fifths of candidates, when given the choice, chose to interview with AI. Perhaps it was simply more convenient—they could schedule an appointment at any time. The researchers also found that the candidates surveyed had a fairly positive view of AI, which may have contributed to more people actively choosing AI.

One of the most interesting points is the study's implications for the cost-effectiveness of replacing professional recruiters with AI bots.

While bots do a complex and important job quite well, the technology doesn’t come with a guaranteed payback. Candidates in the study were able to schedule interviews slightly faster with the AI ​​agent, but that efficiency advantage was offset by the fact that it took recruiters twice as long on average to review the results of AI-generated interviews.

This result is consistent with a recent notable MIT study that concluded that 95% of AI experiments in businesses failed to record measurable benefits, despite billions of dollars invested.

Whether investing in an AI voice agent for interviews is truly cost-effective depends largely on the context. It may depend on the position being filled, and whether the AI ​​is as “savvy” as it is when interviewing for “white collar” positions, not just the repetitive tasks in this study.

This can also depend on factors such as the volume of recruitment and the salary the company pays its recruiters. Smaller companies in areas with relatively low recruitment costs may not break even, especially when considering the upfront costs of paying the provider. Conversely, larger organizations that process large numbers of candidates in areas with high recruitment costs may see significant savings.

The fact that AI interviewing tools appear to lead to higher-quality candidate connections could also mean cost savings for companies because they won't have to replace new staff as often — a huge benefit in industries like call centers, where staff turnover is notoriously high.

This research could mark the beginning of a period of greater clarity in how companies approach their AI investments.

(Source: Bloomberg)

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/khi-tri-tue-nhan-tao-buoc-vao-phong-phong-van-tuyen-dung-2440447.html