Could AI ever replace your mother?

Technology can accomplish much, but it will never possess a soul.

Author

Jim Stroud
May 12, 2024

Sourcing Community,

Happy Mother's Day to all the sourcing mothers out there! It is your special day, enjoy it. 

When I think about the nurturing nature of mothers, I am reminded of the things AI and automation will never be able to do. For example, could AI ever replace your mother? 

Mom Bot

Of course not! However, I did wonder (as so many do) about AI's increasing encroachment into our recruiting lives. To say this another way, I think about how being human is now and will always be, an invaluable part of the recruitment process. But I also wonder by what percentage? To quell my curiosity, I asked various LLMs the following prompt... 

“Consider everything involved in the recruitment process. Make a bulleted list of everything that can be handled with AI and automation then, make another bulleted list of what can only be done by humans. Finally, put a percentage evaluation at the top of each list. For example, "Ai and Automation can handle 50% of the recruiting process." Once done, make a third bulleted list speculating on what AI and Automation can do in concert with humans in order to give the best candidate experience and onboarding experience. Take your time. Think carefully, like a CHRO. Consider ways to save money but not at the cost of potentially damaging the employer brand. Where possible, back up your suppositions with academic research and articles. Share the URL for every citation. Do this right and do not dream up solutions that cannot be backed up by a citation of some sort. Case studies are highly appreciated, especially if they are from fortune 500 companies. Thank you.”

 ChatGPT predicted this:

  • AI and Automation: 70%

  • Human Tasks: 30%

Gemini predicted this: 

  • AI and Automation: 70%

  • Humans Tasks: 30%

You.com predicted this: 

  • AI and Automation: 60% 

  • Human Tasks: 40% 

Groq predicted this:

  • AI and automation: 40%

  • Human Tasks: 60%

Claude predicted this:

  • AI and automation: 60%

  • Human Tasks: 40%

Mixtral predicted this:

  • AI and automation: 50%

  • Human Tasks: 50%

Llama predicted this:

  • AI and automation: 60%

  • Human Tasks: 40%

Command-R said: 

  • AI and automation: 80%

  • Human Tasks: 20%

I copied and pasted the feedback from the LLMs into a word document and then uploaded it to You.com with the following prompt...

Review the attached document and bulletpoint the recruitment process that can only be handled by humans, according to the various LLMs cited in the document. 

Oh! Its important to note that You.com was in Genius mode. 

Building Relationships and Trust with Candidates 

- Establishing deeper relationships and trust with candidates, which are crucial for convincing top candidates to commit. 

Handling Complex Negotiations and Decisions 

- Managing complex decision-making scenarios, especially those involving sensitive negotiations about salary or role responsibilities. 

Cultural Fit and Soft Skills Evaluation 

- Assessing a candidate's cultural fit and interpersonal skills through in-depth interviews and interactions.

I wanted to share the full list but I thought it would make this newsletter much longer than it needed to be. So I added this prompt...

The document emphasizes the importance of human involvement in the recruitment process, despite the advancements in AI technology. While AI can streamline certain tasks, human recruiters are essential for building relationships with candidates, managing complex negotiations, assessing cultural fit and soft skills, crafting job descriptions, and handling job offers. They also play a pivotal role in onboarding, maintaining the employer brand, ensuring ethical use of AI, and improving the recruitment process. The human touch in recruitment fosters trust, empathy, and a positive rapport with candidates, providing a personalized experience that AI cannot replicate.

Such being the case, shouldn't these be skills we should be optimizing ourselves on the most? I asked ChatGPT this prompt...

Based on the following quote, suggest 10 different training modules recruiters should be certified in so they can perform their jobs better.

"The document emphasizes the importance of human involvement in the recruitment process, despite the advancements in AI technology. While AI can streamline certain tasks, human recruiters are essential for building relationships with candidates, managing complex negotiations, assessing cultural fit and soft skills, crafting job descriptions, and handling job offers. They also play a pivotal role in onboarding, maintaining the employer brand, ensuring ethical use of AI, and improving the recruitment process. The human touch in recruitment fosters trust, empathy, and a positive rapport with candidates, providing a personalized experience that AI cannot replicate."

Here were a few of the suggestions...

  • Advanced Communication and Relationship Building: This module focuses on improving interpersonal skills, with an emphasis on building rapport, empathy, and trust with candidates, which are crucial for effective communication and relationship management.

  • Soft Skills Analysis: Since assessing soft skills is often subjective, this module provides frameworks and techniques for objectively evaluating soft skills like teamwork, adaptability, and problem-solving during the recruitment process.

  • Recruitment Analytics and Process Improvement: This module teaches recruiters how to use data and feedback to continuously improve the recruitment process, making it more efficient and effective.

This suggests that recruiters and sourcers aiming to remain valuable and relevant in the future should consider undergoing training in aspects of the recruitment process that uniquely require human skills. Wouldn't the contrary be a waste of time? Just a thought. What's yours? Hit reply and share them with me. The best responses will be shared in an upcoming newsletter.

I anxiously await what you have to say.

Jim Stroud
Your SourceCon Editor

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May the source be with you!

Jim Stroud
Your SourceCon Editor
[email protected]