Artificial intelligence in recruitment: the possible risks of non-neutral criteria and candidate profiling (Norme & Tributi Plus Lavoro, 17 July 2023 — Vittorio De Luca, Alessandra Zilla, Martina De Angeli)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly important role in the recruitment phase, offering new opportunities and challenges for personnel selection processes.
The use of artificial intelligence in the preparatory phase of the employment relationship is becoming ever more important in the following activities:
– Resume screening: AI can be used to perform the initial screening of resumes received for a job position. Through machine learning and data analysis, AI can identify the skills, experience and qualifications which are relevant to the role in question, thereby reducing the time and effort required to make a manual pre-selection;
– Analysis of candidate profiles: AI can analyse candidate profiles on online platforms such as LinkedIn or recruiting websites, by extracting relevant information such as skills, work experience, certifications and other contact information. This can assist the HR functions of companies in identifying the most suitable candidates for a given role, thus speeding up the selection process;
– Initial interviews and skills assessment: some companies are experimenting with the use of chatbots or AI-based virtual assistants to conduct initial interviews with candidates These systems can ask pre-defined questions, analyse the candidates’ answers and provide a score or assessment based on the answers given. This allows the interview process to be standardised and to further filter candidates prior to the subsequent selection phases;
– Predictive analysis: AI can be used to analyse large amounts of historical data and identify patterns or trends that can help predict a candidate’s future performance. For instance, AI can identify personality traits, experiences or skills that are related to job success in certain roles or sectors. This can be used as an additional factor in assessing candidates.
The widespread perception is that such automated procedures are faster, more reliable and cheaper than ‘conventional’ selections, as they allow the candidates’ personal characteristics and aptitudes to be effectively identified by analysing a large amount of data collected during virtual interviews

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