Welcome back! Today, we’re tackling a crucial topic: ensuring fairness and mitigating bias in AI-based hiring. As you harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to supercharge your hiring process, it’s vital to keep a watchful eye on bias and promote fairness.
So, let’s dive in and explore some strategies to navigate this frontier with confidence:
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Start with diverse data
When training an AI algorithm, ensure your data sets are diverse and representative of the talent you’re targeting. If you’re a remote-first company, your data may naturally be diverse as you’ll have a range of candidates from different geographies with different experiences etc – use this! By including a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, you can reduce the risk of perpetuating biases that may exist in your data.
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Define transparent evaluation criteria
Clearly define the evaluation criteria used by your AI systems. Make sure these criteria are fair, objective, and directly related to the job requirements. Transparency is key, as it helps build trust with candidates and demonstrates your commitment to an unbiased process.
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Regularly monitor
Keep a close eye on the performance of your AI systems; regularly audit and monitor the outcomes to identify any potential biases. Whilst they have incredible data processing powers, if AI systems are working within the confines of biased or ‘dirty’ data, they can lead you off on a tangent away from the results you’re looking for. Biases can creep in unintentionally, so it’s crucial to stay vigilant and address any disparities that may arise along the way, rather than just at the start and end of your process.
Conduct regular bias assessments
Regularly assess your AI systems for potential biases. Investigate any patterns that may indicate bias against certain demographic groups or protected characteristics. By proactively identifying and addressing these biases, you can enhance the fairness of your hiring process.
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Collaborate with (human) experts
While AI is powerful, human expertise is equally important in the hiring process. Where available, lean on HR / Talent professionals and experts to review and validate the decisions made by your AI systems. An AI tool might supercharge some processes for you, but a (human) expert might be just as quick to tell you that your results aren’t quite on the money. Combining the strengths of AI and human judgment can help ensure a more fair and well-rounded hiring process.
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Stay compliant
Familiarise yourself with relevant laws and regulations governing hiring practices, such as those related to equal employment opportunity and protected characteristics. Ensure your AI systems and processes align with the relevant regulations for your geography / industry to avoid any legal complications.
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Make DE&I part of your culture
Promote a culture that values diversity and inclusion at every level of your team. Encourage diverse perspectives, provide training on DE&I topics, and empower your team to share their stories and celebrate each other’s differences. A more open-minded, diverse team is not only more likely to be better equipped to help keep your team diverse, but is also more likely to be able to spot bias data/practices in your hiring activity.
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Educate and improve
Stay updated on the latest research, best practices, and advancements in AI technology – that can be admittedly easier said than done right now where it seems to be developing at light speed! Nevertheless, foster a learning mindset within your team and invest in ongoing education and training to enhance your collective understanding of bias mitigation techniques.
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As forward-thinking leaders, fairness and bias mitigation should be at the heart of your AI-based hiring efforts. Using the tactics above, you can build a more inclusive and diverse team while leveraging the power of AI to make, faster, fairer and better informed hiring decisions.
Until next time, keep forging ahead and championing fairness in your hiring.
Happy hiring!
Author
Brad Coombes
Leadership
