I just UPGRADED my iPhone to the new 16 Pro, primarily for the Apple Intelligence (and the camera, being a hobbyist photographer). Intelligence that isn’t coming out until later in October. And even then, who knows if it will do what it purports to do. Mercy me, I got sucked into, yet again, the tech hype machine.
To be clear, I am a geeky Apple fan and have been for decades. Today, AI is everywhere and has already significantly impacted our personal and professional lives—good, bad, and all in between—generative AI in particular. Mainstream AI has only just begun, and generative AI has permeated our lives in ways that the internet first did in the 1990s.
Using generative AI doesn’t mean that whatever inquisitive prompts you use will generate 100% accurate information; you definitely have to review and check what it produces. However, it is being utilized more and more across professions and industries.
Take recruiting and hiring, for example. This year, in our global CandE Benchmark Research, we asked both TA teams if they’re using generative AI to help them write or update their job descriptions, candidate communications, etc., and if job candidates write or update their resumes and cover letters.
On average, half the recruiting teams participating in our benchmark research around the world told us they were using generative AI, but only 10%-20% of candidates told us they were (see below).
Recruiting Teams Using Generative AI
Job Candidates Using Generative AI
This will all continually change rapidly over the next few years, with most likely more and more of us utilizing these AI tools. In fact, more job candidates are using sites like LazyApply.com and jobhire.ai to apply for hundreds of jobs at once automatically.
That’s not necessarily a boon for employers, and many of them who participated in our benchmark research this year are currently telling us during their CandE data reviews that their volume of applications is definitely up. Leaner recruiting teams and unoptimized recruiting technologies are also fighting an uphill battle.
This year, about 20% of the global CandE research participants have implemented AI recruiting technologies—from better matching algorithms embedded in their current ATSs for top-of-funnel filtering and sorting to sourcing internal and external databases, interview scheduling, conversational AI chatbots and more (see below). That’s up from 15% last year and 10% two years ago.
% of Employers Implementing AI Recruiting Technologies
When recruiting tech is optimized and utilized, it can help recruiting teams and hiring managers focus more human time on screening candidates, interviewing candidates, making offers, and onboarding new hires with an efficient and effective human touch.
However, for the first time in the candidate comment sentiment we gathered in our research, candidates told us that they believe AI is making all the selection decisions across the candidate journey. That AI is automatically rejecting them. That humans aren’t making the calls.
We know that’s not true and the employers know that’s not true. But that’s a growing misconception that will balloon in the years to come. And in the recent recruiting past, it’s already ballooned pre-AI, with candidates railing against “automation” since the first ATS went online (remember Restrac?).
So, this candidate tech resentment isn’t new, especially for candidates deemed unqualified and dispositioned at the application stage. But today, AI recruiting technologies are here to stay, and recruiting teams, hiring managers, and candidates alike will continue to leverage generative AI as a potential competitive differentiator. If the prompts are right that is.