Artificial Intelligence is technology learning. Human beings can build, design, and program smarter and smarter computers, of course. AI takes it to the next level in that the computer can analyze data and form mathematical models to learn without direct instruction from the developer.
Conversational AI is the technology that powers automated messaging and speech-enabled devices and apps that allow for what seems like natural dialogue between people and computers.
The most common forms of AI in everyday life
Have you ever had a pop-up window open up on a company website and ask if it can be of assistance? You can interact with the app, ask questions, and request follow-up. While there is often a picture or avatar of a human in the dialogue window, you are communicating with a computer.
Conversational AI is also the tech behind your digital assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Bixby as well as chatbots and other apps that allow computers to talk with humans, answer questions, and understand voice commands.
Beyond just talking to you and answering queries, big companies are constantly feeding artificial intelligence algorithms with massive amounts of data to tailor digital experiences to user preferences. Streaming apps such as YouTube and Netflix use AI to determine which content to highlight for each user in order to generate maximum engagement.
Your social media feeds and favourite news aggregators use this technology to program your content feed to be the most relevant to you based on your previous choices of posts to read and accounts to interact with. The more you click on links and respond to content, the more the technology learns about the kinds of messaging that will be engaging to you.
Similarly, advertisers use AI and data to provide personalized marketing messages and ads to online audiences. When you start seeing advertisements for products that seem oddly specific to what is going on in your life at the time, that is artificial intelligence at work.
Do you ever receive a warning email when you log into an account on a new device? That is AI recognizing a change from your usual behaviour and proactively reaching out to prevent potential fraud.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, of course. AI is rapidly increasing the speed of technological advancement. It will be essential to the development and mainstreaming of the "internet of things" where all the devices and appliances in your environment synch and provide routine services based on your patterns of behaviour – rather than being directly asked. Self-driving cars will also rely on AI to safely navigate crowded streets and predict the motions of people and other vehicles.
AI in recruitment
Since many of the initial recruitment process steps are routine and involve analyzing data, more and more companies are embracing artificial intelligence technologies to streamline the process and save their recruiters’ time.
Much like online advertising is targeted to engage the potential customer, companies use AI to target their recruitment marketing to applicants who are most likely to be a good fit for the position they are trying to fill.
Applicant Tracking Systems, or ATS, are often used to screen resumes and incoming job applications. This software scans documents for relevant information and filters the results according to what it finds. This means that when an ATS searches a resume for a certain number of years of experience and specific skill sets, only those documents that contain the information it is looking for will be forwarded to the hiring manager. All the other applications will be rejected.
This saves recruiters time reading through applications that do not meet their minimum requirements for the role.
Once the resumes have been parsed, chatbots are often used as the next step of the screening process for candidates. Potential hires can interact with an app that asks them questions about their skills and experience. The AI then analyzes their responses and provides insights to the recruiter about which applicants are the most relevant for the role.
The chatbot can even filter the candidate pool down to just a few with the best responses and schedule interviews with these individuals while emailing polite rejection letters to the remaining. In this scenario, the majority of the applicants for the job only interacted with the company’s technology and never with an actual human.
Many human resources professionals see this as the future of recruiting. Not only does it save valuable human time by filtering out the unqualified or irrelevant candidates, but it is also unbiased. Artificial Intelligence won’t have a preference for a candidate from a specific school, cultural background, sex, or gender expression. Technology interprets data and delivers mathematical results. This has been heralded as an important step in removing discrimination from the hiring process and improving equity and diversity in staffing.
Getting your job application past the AI gate-keepers
When applying for jobs, it is important to keep in mind that your first interactions with the potential employer could be with a machine. This is why it is essential to customize your application for each job posting you apply to. Every job description will have different requirements. Pay attention to those and customize your application to tailor your resume and cover letter for every individual job. Use similar wording to how the job requirements are phrased when you describe your credentials. Here is more on optimizing your resume for Applicant Tracking Systems.
The same goes for interacting with chatbots. These programs don’t interpret subtleties or personality. Don’t try to be clever with them. Provide the answers you think they most want to receive. At this phase of the hiring process your goal should be to avoid getting filtered out and having your candidacy considered by a human representative from the company.
The company’s Human Resources department or the hiring manager still has the final say over who ultimately gets hired. Humans have emotional intelligence and reasoning skills beyond just mathematics. Robots don’t understand human emotions, and they aren’t great judges of character. So, once you get past the bots, it still comes down to a human being picking the person they want the most on their team.
This is where you can win them over with your positive attitude and engaging conversation.
