The Hidden Danger of AI in Your Hiring Process

AI helps recruiters save time on routine tasks like sorting through resumes. Companies can process more applications than ever before. But when AI makes mistakes or follows biased patterns, it affects thousands of candidates.

In this article, we’ll explore how AI in recruitment can unintentionally amplify biases, the risks of over-relying on AI, and how Augmented Intelligence ensures that the hiring process remains fair and inclusive.

Traditional Keyword Filtering and Hidden Biases

Before advanced AI tools entered recruitment, companies used basic keyword filters to screen applications. These systems would only pass candidates who used specific terms in their resumes.

Dakota Younger, founder of Boon, explains that keyword search and Booleans were already becoming a thing before AI. However, these systems created problems in hiring processes.

"We almost missed out on a candidate because he didn't put Java on his resume”, Dakota recalls from his recruiting days. “But he had actually written a book on Java. For whatever reason, it wasn't in his skill section."

The candidate was only discovered because someone asked additional questions during a conversation. Without that human interaction, a highly qualified expert would have been filtered out despite having exceptional credentials.

This example reveals a fundamental weakness in automated screening: systems that rely strictly on keywords miss qualified candidates who describe their skills differently.

How AI Amplifies Both Solutions and Problems

AI recruitment tools are much more sophisticated than simple keyword filters. They can analyze patterns across millions of resumes and identify potential matches quickly. This is a double-edged sword for hiring teams:

Dakota Younger identifies the main danger: "If we were already doing keyword filtering and then we just handed it over to AI, which does it on a larger scale, then that problem just gets worse."

On the positive side, AI processes application volumes that would overwhelm human recruiters.

When AI works well, it produces good results at scale. When it makes mistakes, it does so at an equally massive scale, often undetected.

The risk increases when AI systems learn from historical hiring data that contains bias. Dakota adds: "Any biases we have get instinctively added to the AI because that's the data we're feeding into it."

If a company historically hired more candidates with specific backgrounds, AI trained on that data will replicate those patterns, creating a feedback loop.

The Dangers of Over-Promising AI Accuracy in Recruitment

Many AI vendors claim their tools can identify the "best candidate" with remarkable accuracy. These promises lead companies to rely too heavily on algorithms.

The reality is quite different:

• AI can only work with the data it's given
• If your past hiring was biased, your AI will learn those same biases
• Many AI systems can't explain why they made specific recommendations

When organizations treat AI decisions as perfect, they risk making poor hires and potentially creating legal problems around discrimination.

Why 100% AI Matching Is Not the Solution

There’s no denying the fact that AI can process data quickly. Still, it can't evaluate many qualities that matter in hiring. AI can find candidates with the desired technical skills, but it can't properly assess qualities like adaptability, teamwork, or cultural fit.

"Recruiting is a very human process," Dakota emphasizes. "There's just so much nuance when it comes to that high-touch process that AI can help with processing large amounts of data, but you still want people to be highly involved."

This insight points to using AI as a support tool rather than a replacement for recruiters. AI can identify more potential candidates, while humans make the final evaluations.

Augmented Intelligence: Balancing Technology with Human Judgment

Organizations can harness AI’s potential without sacrificing fairness by following these best practices:

• Set realistic expectations about what AI can and cannot do. View it as a powerful assistant for handling repetitive tasks, not a replacement for human judgment.
• Conduct regular audits of your AI recommendations. Look for patterns that might indicate bias, such as consistently favoring candidates from specific backgrounds or career paths.
• Maintain human oversight at critical decision points. While AI efficiently identifies potential matches based on skills and experience, humans excel at evaluating cultural fit and interpersonal qualities.
• Use AI to widen your candidate pool and discover promising individuals who might otherwise be overlooked.
• Track outcomes over time to provide essential feedback. Monitor the quality and diversity of hires to continuously refine your approach to AI implementation.

This balanced strategy ensures organizations reap the efficiency benefits of AI while maintaining the human judgment essential to building strong, diverse teams.

Expanding the Referral Pool for Better Diversity

Boon approaches AI in recruiting with a different mindset. Instead of narrowing candidate pools, our AI is designed to expand them. By surfacing qualified talent from users’ extended networks, we help teams move beyond the usual suspects and uncover great candidates they might not have considered.

One key advantage is how we address proximity bias - the tendency to only think of people you’ve worked with recently. Boon’s AI recommendations bring visibility to overlooked connections, without taking control away from the user. Every suggestion is reviewed and approved by a real person before becoming a referral.

This approach keeps the quality of traditional referrals intact while significantly improving diversity. It also avoids the rigid keyword filtering that often limits who gets seen. With Boon, you broaden your reach using the trust already built into your network - without sacrificing quality or fit.

The Future of Human-AI Collaboration in Hiring

The best hiring approach combines AI technology with human judgment. Each brings different strengths to the process. Having a balanced approach benefits everyone: companies find better candidates, and candidates get a fair evaluation of their skills.

The companies winning the talent race today use technology wisely while keeping human judgment at the center of their hiring process.

Book a consultation to see how Boon’s AI can help you expand reach and make smarter referral decisions.

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