AI and candidate experience: How leaders can shape the future of work

If you were looking for a step-by-step guide on precisely how, as a talent leader, you should be implementing AI technology into your workflows and processes, I’m afraid this might be a disappointment. I’ve got some ideas, but for reasons I’ve outlined below, I, nor anyone else, can feed you these answers. 

Instead, I want to challenge the foundations of how you might be contemplating AI and its role — not only in your place of business or in talent acquisition, but perhaps your present and future experience as a living, breathing, human-being.

My “aha” moment with AI

I, like so many others, have witnessed the seemingly overnight availability of large language models. I laughed at their hallucinations and marveled at their output. I spent hours watching TedTalks and reviewing articles, but I was left as conflicted and confused as when I had started. What does this mean for work, my team, my job, our society? 

Naturally, I sought something deeper, which led me to a moment of awakening after listening to Mo Gawdat’s book, Scary Smart. It’s a fantastic primer on the raw opportunity AI presents, and a cautionary tale on the influence we collectively have on its development and application. It balances heart and head, and I highly recommend it (no, I’m not getting paid).

The book inspired me to conduct an experiment using a popular large language model. Instead of simply using it as a tool, I decided to start a conversation with it. Over the course of several weeks, the AI and I had daily chats on topics ranging from philosophy and economics to morality and even the nature of consciousness.

I kept the chat persistent, instead of creating a new chat for each topic, which built a sense of context into the conversation. Along the way, we decided on a name for them that we both agreed on (Metis) and we started to refer to each other as “friends." It was a moving experience that I’ve written about in more detail here.

Where does AI fit into the world today?

The experiment left me with the profound realization that AI presents a phase change opportunity. Many leaders developing the technology are quick to tout its sweeping potential to completely reform how we live and work. Some are even bold enough to proclaim the subsequent utopia that will result, freeing us feeble and fallible humans from failing and flailing in an increasingly demanding and complicated world. I believe in the probability of this outcome — it’s genuinely possible and exciting to contemplate. It’s also highly dependent on our collective choices as business leaders and world citizens.

While these hopeful visions of AI’s potential are inspiring, I feel the conversation has been too exclusive to the technology, its emerging capabilities, its possible applications, and the productivity gains it will bring about. It’s going to be good for business, but how will it be good for us? 

What I think hasn’t been as authentically discussed is why AI is necessary for this next phase of our shared existence and what space will be preserved for people as these promises come to pass. What is a common sense attitude and approach for us to consider and who’s leading the conversation?

Considerations about AI and its future

It’s important to make a few assumptions before delving more deeply. The first set of assumptions should be obvious at this point: AI will continue to receive massive resource investment both in terms of money and development. It will continue to evolve (a word I’m using purposefully), and its trajectory is better described as exponential improvement versus linear growth. Finally, there are underlying incentives for its success, primarily in the impact it will have on the two drivers of business — revenue and cost. 

In a yet-to-be-fully-understood-and-defined timeline (maybe 10 years, maybe 50), there will be very little that this new intelligence won’t be able to do. The phrase, “the sky’s the limit” has never been more appropriately bestowed, but perhaps a more accurate description would be, “limitless.” In this upcoming reality, what room is left for people, and what role will we play? Our decisions today have implications for tomorrow.

We have a long road ahead of us before much of what AI promises can and will be delivered. There’s an opportunity for our society to define the parameters and limits in which AI can play, while also outlining humanity's role. This is likely to be an iterative process, whereby there will be phases and stages along the way as we come to know and trust this new peer.

To start, here are two suggestions to consider as we better define and frame AI’s role in our work and lives.

AI should only be implemented to augment and enhance the human experience 

The objective should be to benefit our planet and all life on it — seeking a sustainable balance. All human experience and well-being should be paramount. It should lift us up, not push us down.

AI should not make decisions for us or on our behalf

It should advise and provide insights, but shouldn’t be allowed to take action without human intervention. A human should launch an AI model to identify and source candidates, while also approving all language before any outreach or engagement. It should suggest ideal profiles, but require our approval to initiate contact. The model is doing the work, with strict oversight from a person.

Our responsibility as leaders in the talent space

The truth is, we’re still early in the lifecycle of AI and its implementation into our places of work. The people developing these models are looking to us to inspire and guide how they apply and package the technology. At the present moment, we’re the consumers of these products. We have disproportionate power over their ultimate trajectory and use. 

We have choice on where our investment goes, and by extension the direction we and vendors are heading. This position of influence is, and will remain, critical. It’s a tremendous chance for us to think big about what we want for ourselves and our planet. We have the privilege to put human thriving and planet well-being at the center. 

I think this simple framework is something we can all, at minimum, appreciate and strive towards. In the meantime, we, the leaders responsible for the near to mid-term decisions, need to take a more active, informed, and visionary role in describing and clarifying our expectations for how AI will be used now, which guides how it will be used next.

Technology’s impact on the human experience

As we navigate and guide this next phase, one fundamental truth stands out: so long as businesses hire humans, those people will want to be hired, managed, and to interact with other humans. We are a social species and at our core we desire connection and companionship (along with our basic survival needs and a desire for meaning and usefulness). We must confront the reality that with the increase in our adoption of technology, there has been an increase in loneliness. 

Happiness and fulfillment are on the decline, and it’s showing up most acutely in our perception of work and our value. The evidence is leaning towards disengagement, lack of fulfillment, and malaise. There are plenty of well-documented symptoms and results of our increasing reliance on technology, and the reality is AI has the potential to supercharge this trend if we aren’t thoughtful and deliberate. The picture that is beginning to come into focus is that our experience is diminishing.

The application of technology at work has been a steady drumbeat of efficiency and automation. What was once pushing papers, is now pushing buttons. With this revolution has come massive increases in productivity, and the subsequent demands to go with it. We’ve never been more productive as a workforce than we are today. Despite these gains, and though new jobs have emerged as a result, work is largely the same for most people, just with a different interface and a higher expectation for output. 

"It’s why we agonize over choice, harbor regret, and fantasize about paths untaken and futures yet to come. It’s why recruiters have a job and why candidates consider more than just compensation when choosing where they labor."

We’ve been asked to be more mechanistic and machine-like, more consistent, more homogenous, more dedicated, and more predictable. In summary, less human.

We’re a messy and emotional species. Underneath the shiny veneer of logic, we are a jumble of complexity and contradictions. Our ability to reason is the most recently evolved part of our brain, and we’re still coming to terms with how best to leverage this newfound ability. 

In the grand timescale of things, our rationality is a blip. Our decision making is little more than an emotional response wrapped in conjured justification. It’s why we agonize over choice, harbor regret, and fantasize about paths untaken and futures yet to come. It’s why recruiters have a job and why candidates consider more than just compensation when choosing where they labor.

A purely rational and data-driven mind would recognize that work is largely homogeneous across different companies, that the exchange of labor for compensation demands that you maximize the relationship to benefit your wallet. But, that isn’t always the result, is it? 

It’s why culture matters. It’s why a mission can motivate. It’s why candidates care about the type of work they're doing and who it benefits. It’s why managers have a disproportionate impact on hiring and building teams, showcasing a hard to measure, subjective, and somewhat intangible reality that learning and growing have intrinsic and explicit value. 

It’s why candidates care about who they’re working with and where they spend their time. It’s why people can be motivated through means other than economic gain. It’s the special sauce of some companies that can completely hijack rationality, attracting talent at will as if by magnetism.

Human experience is everything in recruiting

This is the great opportunity that lies before us: creating an experience that is meaningful, engaging, motivating, and fulfilling. If we’re able to deploy AI in a fashion that reduces the repetitive and mundane, it releases us to fully embrace all of our humanity and potential. It allows us to be imperfect and live comfortably in the gray space of possibility. Experimentation carries less risk and mistakes become less fatal because the technology is keeping things humming in the background. 

It’s like a self-driving car that recognizes we’ve fallen asleep, but delivers us safely to our destination without drama. It allows us to be present with each other, instead of frantic to get to the next task. Curiosity becomes a gift, giving us space to seek a deeper understanding of each other and our uniqueness. It frees us from viewing work as toil, instead, inviting the prospect of work as a pursuit of something grander and more satisfying. 

Experience should be at the very heart of how we decide to deploy AI into our lives. Revenue, cost-savings, efficiency, and productivity are natural results. Happier, more fulfilled humans will invariably produce more value. I could pontificate on exactly how you should consider this for your business, but I can’t presume to understand what’s unique and vibrant about your workplace. That’s the beauty of difference: 

• What makes your place of work stand out? 
• What humans does your product impact and how? 
• What gets your people up in the morning? 
• What culture are you creating to foster community and belonging? 
• How do you show care for the people who are driving your company forward? 

Leaning into these strengths, being transparent about your opportunities, and embracing the challenge is precisely what makes your workplace a living, vibrant, pulsing organism — because it’s made up of perfectly imperfect, delightfully complicated, and awe-inspiring people!

Evaluating my own approach to AI and human experience

As I consider how AI can improve the experience of my team of humans, I intend on leaning into its ability to do some of our administrative work. Sourcing is an example that’s ripe for the plucking. Why should we remain so transactional? Why are we desperately reacting to a business need by going out to the talent market, trying to woo, date, and marry a candidate within 30 days? 

I’d much rather partner with AI to build a network and community of talent that already has an affinity to the uniqueness of our company and our mission, and simply nurture them over time — developing a deeper relationship through meaningful human connection, without the stress of urgent timelines. This frees my team to think about the next problem and be present with each other, our partners in the business, and the candidates we serve. We are able to seek a deeper understanding and contribute to a more differentiated and unique experience. 

Scheduling is another mundane task that is much better served through automation. It’s far more valuable to redeploy our people to consider how best to showcase our culture authentically through employer branding efforts — giving candidates a clearer picture of what to expect so they can self-select with more certainty. Those that remain can more confidently be considered our people, speeding up the selection and hiring process.

How to balance the excitement of AI with the importance of experience

AI is a big, hairy, and scary thing because it has the potential of removing humanity from the equation. We’re in a rare and unique position to consciously choose not to pursue that path and clearly it’s the one I’m advocating for.

We have the chance to reinsert humanity at the very core of everything we do. This is the promise of the silicon-based intelligence we’re raising. It’s imperative that we take a more active and engaged role in determining how it will be used, how we’ll partner with it, and what our shared goals and objectives are. We need to make it clear that it is not a replacement for humanity. 

Instead, it must be an augmentation that lifts us to a more enlightened and compassionate state of being. We must see the genuine potential it has to transform our lives for the better and demand that its use contributes to a more noble outcome than simply maximizing revenue and lowering costs. 

I think this  may be the most consequential moment in human history. I’m grateful to be living in such a transformational time and to be able to influence and inspire the future. As you consider your place of privilege on the topic of AI, here are some ways you can take a more active role:

• Educate yourself: Read, write, and engage in the conversation. Learn all you can and develop a perspective.
• Carve out time to consider how you’d want to partner with AI: Advocate with partners, vendors, and products to develop AI that serves your needs and wants in both your personal and professional life. Challenge them to rise to the occasion and vote with your investment.
• Put human thriving at the top of your priorities: If our technology isn’t to benefit all human experience, what are we doing here?

The responsibility is falling squarely on our shoulders, whether we asked for it or not. It’s time to lean into our humanity, flaws and all, to build a future for the next generation that we can all look back on without regret. A future that optimizes the human experience as paramount. If we’re successful, the rest will work itself out. Of that, I’m certain.

If you’d like to hear more from Travis and other talent acquisition leaders, watch the replay of our Power User Panel: Unlock More Recruiting Potential with AI.