• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Gowling WLG
  • Legal information
  • Privacy statement
  • Cookie Policy
  • Home
  • About
  • Posts
  • Blogs
    • The IP Blog
    • Public Law & Regulation
    • AI
    • The UPC Blog

LoupedIn

Artificial Intelligence and Recruitment  – how to address the pitfalls

Published on November 27, 2020 by Jonathan Chamberlain

Artificial Intelligence and Recruitment – how to address the pitfalls

HR, rightly, has an uneasy relationship with AI. To the equalities practitioner, the downsides of a machine taking decisions based on a formula are only too apparent. How is the formula generated? What values, in every sense, are used? How does the machine learn?

For a large employer, the benefits of AI in, say, recruitment appear obvious to the Finance and IT Directors. The HRD though is instinctively wary. What is saved in costs risks being lost many times over in compensation and reputational damage if the algorithm turns out to discriminate against those with protected characteristics. In theory, AI should make recruitment fairer: in practice, as the old adage has it, to err is human but to really screw up takes a computer. The effect of any errors in the coding may affect far more people than one errant manager.

Employment and Equalities lawyers have been aware of this for some time. In introducing AI into recruitment, HR, Legal and IT have to work closely together, ruthlessly probing the software and, modelling how it will really behave for the particular organisation. We are a long way from this stuff working straight out of the box. That said, a ‘long way’ in AI terms might mean only months, given the pace of development.

The Centre for Data Ethics & Innovation, part of the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, has just published its review into bias in algorithmic decision making. My Partner, and AI legal expert, Matt Hervey has blogged the headlines here. Recruitment is one of the four ‘sectors’ on which it focusses and which leads the summary in the report.

The findings and recommendations are not surprising, but will add considerable weight to HR’s views around the Board table. The report calls for more guidance, greater scrutiny and “higher and clearer standards of good governance“. It identifies many of the problems in working with AI in the HR context and is helpful in identifying what might be best practice in addressing them. Perhaps mercifully, it does not recommend a new regulator: we continue to rely on the EHRC and the ICO.

It is worth HR reading the whole report, not just the recruitment section. One knotty problem it identifies comes under the heading of ‘local government procurement’, but as the report acknowledges is of much broader importance: if a supplier relies on customer data, who is responsible for system performance? How in turn is that responsibility passed to a sub-contractor, or does it remain with, well, who? Given that few organisations are going to produce and manage their own AI, the governance arrangements are going to be crucial across the whole supply chain. In the employment context, the buck is likely to stop with the employer: where there might be responsibility, it is a good idea to have control.




About the author(s)

Photo of Jonathan Chamberlain
Jonathan Chamberlain
View Jonathan's profile | See recent posts

Jonathan Chamberlain leads for the Technology Sector in Gowling WLG's UK Employment, Labour & Equalities Team. He is a member and past Chair of the Legislative & Policy Committee of the Employment Lawyers' Association, but blogs in a personal capacity.

  • Jonathan Chamberlain
    https://loupedin.blog/author/jonathanchamberlain/
    Time for Tech to clock-on?
  • Jonathan Chamberlain
    https://loupedin.blog/author/jonathanchamberlain/
    The headscarf rulings - some more personal reflections
  • Jonathan Chamberlain
    https://loupedin.blog/author/jonathanchamberlain/
    Theresa May's employment law proposals - A new and Tory socialism?
  • Jonathan Chamberlain
    https://loupedin.blog/author/jonathanchamberlain/
    Employment law update: rapid change demands radical reform

Jonathan Chamberlain

Jonathan Chamberlain leads for the Technology Sector in Gowling WLG's UK Employment, Labour & Equalities Team. He is a member and past Chair of the Legislative & Policy Committee of the Employment Lawyers' Association, but blogs in a personal capacity.

Filed Under: AI, Opinion Tagged With: Artificial Intelligence (AI), ehrc, Employment, hr, ICO, recruitment

Views expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect those of Gowling WLG.

NOT LEGAL ADVICE. Information made available on this website in any form is for information purposes only. It is not, and should not be taken as, legal advice. You should not rely on, or take or fail to take any action based upon this information. Never disregard professional legal advice or delay in seeking legal advice because of something you have read on this website. Gowling WLG professionals will be pleased to discuss resolutions to specific legal concerns you may have.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Ireland to hold referendum to ratify UPC Agreement
  • Volunteering as a Mascot Team Member at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
  • Ban on most new residential ground rents comes into force at the end of the month

Footer

LoupedIn is the Official Gowling WLG Blog. Gowling WLG is an international law firm comprising the members of Gowling WLG International Limited, an English Company Limited by Guarantee, and their respective affiliates. Each member and affiliate is an autonomous and independent entity. Gowling WLG International Limited promotes, facilitates and co-ordinates the activities of its members but does not itself provide services to clients. Our structure is explained in more detail on our Legal Information page.

  • Home
  • About
  • Gowling WLG
  • Legal information
  • Privacy statement
  • Cookie Policy

© 2022 Gowling WLG

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT