3 ways your hiring teams can move past AI anxiety and use the tech to their advantage

As artificial intelligence gains momentum across industries, many companies are eager to use it to benefit their businesses. But some organizations — and their employees — have yet to fully understand AI’s productivity-enhancing potential.

Many companies are just starting their AI journeys, and the perception may be that it can be too complicated or add to workloads. While the long-term gains from AI will likely outweigh these initial hurdles, it’s clear that both organizations and their teams are still figuring out how to fully leverage AI’s productivity-boosting potential.

Putting AI to effective use starts with learning how to use it. While some employees may be hesitant to get familiar with AI tools, research from Indeed Hiring Lab, Indeed’s economic research arm, shows that even highly sophisticated forms of AI remain incapable of replacing skilled workers. However, workers need to embrace upskilling and ongoing learning — especially when it comes to AI.

“GenAI will not take your job,” Svenja Gudell, chief economist at Indeed, said at Indeed FutureWorks 2024. “However, the person that knows how to use these tools definitely will. Embracing AI as a tool is the key to staying relevant in this evolving landscape.”

To overcome AI anxieties, boost productivity, and tackle workload challenges, companies need to focus on using AI responsibly and identifying practical cases that can help them increase efficiency and remain competitive. Three considerations are especially key for human resources and talent acquisition professionals:

1.Focusing on useful, efficiency-driving AI applications for recruiting and hiring

Though some company leaders today are already experimenting with AI tools and realizing the benefits, with all the noise around AI in the public discourse today, many may feel overwhelmed and confused about how to move forward. Addressing those issues, particularly in the hiring function, starts with recognizing that AI can already make many HR and TA processes faster and simpler.

“HR professionals can utilize AI tools to streamline repetitive tasks while focusing on strategic initiatives and the human side of hiring,” said Jennifer Warren, VP, global brand marketing at Indeed.

Indeed research shows that 87% of HR and TA decision-makers already use AI tools. But the key to success in using those AI tools is recognizing both their utility and their limitations.

Tested and proven GenAI tools can support hiring leaders by summarizing resumes, writing job descriptions, and compiling interview questions for human review. These tools can help companies swiftly and efficiently streamline HR activities. But GenAI tools can’t replace the human judgment and analysis required for activities like assessing and interviewing candidates.

2.Following responsible AI principles

It could be tempting to avoid early AI adoption due to the potential risks involved, but according to Trey Causey, senior director of responsible technology at Indeed, “Saying AI has too many risks is just as dangerous as using it carelessly. Both approaches diminish your ability to do your job effectively.” Instead, use a trust-but-verify approach that strikes a balance between rapid innovation and careful implementation.

Companies should only build and use tested, proven, responsible AI solutions that align with their company values and can meet their legal departments’ criteria. Causey recommends evaluating potential AI vendors by asking questions about their thoughts on responsible AI and how they comply with AI-specific regulations. While employers may be new to the field of AI, they should trust their experience in evaluating vendors of other new technologies — not unlike how they hire experts in new areas.

Indeed, for instance, is committed to fairness and equity in its products. To accomplish this Indeed’s Responsible AI team consults across the business, builds tools that Indeed AI developers can use to evaluate their models and systems for bias, and conducts rigorous quantitative statistical analysis with a broad spectrum of experts.

That commitment to responsible innovation informs Indeed’s AI-powered products, including its “Invite to Apply” job recommendations, AI job description generator, and Smart Sourcing features like candidate highlights.

3.Measuring AI’s impact over time

While productivity and efficiency are certainly nice-to-haves, candidate quality, candidate satisfaction, and conversion rates remain top-of-mind for hiring teams.

Organizations using AI tools should continue to track these traditional indicators, while also looking further out — and consider other measurable areas that may be impacted over time.

“It takes a while to determine how to measure the impact of new technology,” said Causey, “As AI creates new capabilities, we may discover that better candidate matching is beneficial not only for hiring but for retention and morale, for example.”

Ultimately, AI’s long-term business potential is hard to predict, but for hiring professionals, unlocking benefits from it is already possible today.

“Can these tools improve hiring? The answer is yes,” said Warren, encouraging hesitant human resources and talent acquisition professionals to embrace AI. Echoing Gudell’s warning that those who use AI will outpace those who don’t, she added, “Let’s make sure we’re in the group that knows how to use it.”