Does the future of HR lie in artificial intelligence?

HR Managers in today's workplace need to accommodate not only changes in staff and company culture, but also in the technology used for business. The latest development that is making moves into HR is chatbots – artificial intelligence that could soon be taking over some of your HR duties.

What are chatbots?

A chatbot is a computer program which is designed to convincingly simulate how a human would behave as a conversational partner, therefore having the ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human.

For companies looking for help or to outsource their HR, a digital helper seems like an attractive proposition. But is there a place for AI in HR? And is the AI really ready for it?

The potential use of chatbots in HR management

Forbes says that the beginnings of a move towards chatbots will be one of the trends to watch this year in HR. Companies such as Talla, which has created a chatbot that manages to-do lists on the communication platform Slack, are working on developing the technology further so it can take on more HR tasks.

The plan is for chatbots to take over the induction side of HR, training new staff members and answering their questions about process and company policy. The long-term goal is for the Talla program to act as an all-round, virtual assistant.

Talla CEO Rob May told the MIT Technology Review that its technology could even be involved in recruitment decisions, eventually. Talla's engineers are working on a program that compares candidates' resume's with those of successful past hires to find similarities.

The weaknesses of AI that HR consultants address

Chatbot technology still has limitations, however. The main problem that needs to be addressed before they can become an industry standard for HR is their failure to understand ambiguous language. These programs cope well with simple language and straightforward commands, but when people start using nuanced language that relies on its context for meaning, the programs struggle. To incorporate chatbots into HR would take a higher degree of language intuition than they currently have, as the ability to interpret subtle and nuanced language is critical to the role.

This is where the benefits of a professional HR consultancy service becomes clear. While AI is still lacking the communication skills to fully take on an effective HR role, there are already options available for companies that want assistance. Flexi Personnel's HR Consultants can offer you advice and guidance based on an intuitive, human understanding. Get in touch today to find out more.