Does the rise of AI spell the end for HR recruiters?

By 2025, approximately 25% of jobs are expected to be replaced by AI, according to the Boston Consulting Group. For you, the HR recruiter, does this mean your job can be replaced by robots? The short answer is: not quite. But HR recruiting trends have already drastically changed in the past decade and prove to be moving towards a greater reliance on AI.

How AI can change the day-to-day of HR recruiters

In short, utilizing AI recruiting tools means less busy work, more human interaction, and better results. If you’re an HR recruiter, chances are you already use some form of screening software to find candidates that match your company’s needs. As AI advances, it will make the job of HR recruiters easier. AI leads to efficiencies in a number of key areas in the hiring process, including by pre-screening the countless resumes that may cross the HR recruiter’s desk using algorithms to match skills on resumes to those required of the job. AI can also take the form of chat-bots that interact in a personalized way with prospective applicants, can anticipate and communicate time frames to potential candidates, email applicants who are algorithmically ruled out of contention for the job, and schedule interviews with quality candidates. The busy work of screening applicants—even researching applicant’s backgrounds on social media—can now be streamlined with AI tools. These recruiting industry trends will spell good news for the HR recruiter, who will be able to focus on the human side of “human resources” and spend more time with a shortlist of qualified candidates, deserving of thoughtful consideration. But can software take that next step? Will software ever really be able to detect soft skills? More lifelike AI can anticipate human needs, but this does not necessarily translate to the ability to “read” people. Still, HR recruiting trends show the increased use of AI to help with first-round interviews. There is now technology that can scan behavioral responses or use facial recognition software to screen candidates early in the interview process. Getting interviewed by a robot? It sounds a little like science fiction, but it may be standard in the industry soon.

Why AI will never eliminate the need for a personal touch

While AI can measure data and help streamline the process, it will alter a recruiter’s job but is unlikely to eliminate it. Hiring is a two-way street, and a company that overly relies on AI to screen candidates may give the wrong first impression. Many times the HR recruiter is the one who establishes the relationship between applicants and companies. A computer can say “welcome,” but will that ever feel welcoming? AI won’t be able to build a relationship with potential recruits—however human a chatbot may appear. Establishing that relationship is also key in attracting quality hires, as is understanding the very human side of the hiring process. HR recruiters can intuit and communicate the culture of a company to prospective applicants. The HR recruiter can persuade a quality candidate of a job’s merits and influence the process. The HR recruiter can consult with clients and incorporate a broader understanding of their expectations for new hires. An algorithm won’t “think outside the box” like this or be able to advocate for a particular recruit and sometimes that is the most valuable thing the HR recruiter brings to the process. We use the data from AI to help form opinions, interpret how candidates may work and match with a certain job—but many times an applicant can look great “on paper” but still not work out. In this case, AI would simply help you get the wrong candidates faster. Until we can measure human intuition, empathy, the inexplicable feeling of “fit,” AI will never truly replace HR recruiters. But it will become an increasing presence that will help recruiters.

The bottom line

With the recruiting industry trends, the key for the HR recruiter will be to adapt to the use of this new technology. Recruiters who embrace AI to make human resources more “human” and more resourceful can forge their place in the hiring process, use AI to their advantage, and remain in that key role of forging relationships between new hires and their prospective employers.