In Victor Hugo’s novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, he wrote a chapter titled “The One Will Kill the Other.” This chapter deviated from the story as Victor Hugo argues the development of the printing press killed the art of architecture. His arguments make a lot of sense; the ability to disseminate beautifully crafted stories and literature became the avenue of art as we’ve seen the breathtaking sights of castles and cathedrals become a thing of the past.
Now, you may be wondering, “Chris, what does this have to do with sourcing and recruiting?” I would like to argue that AI and talent acquisition (TA) are similar to the printing press and architecture respectively. There are obvious differences in the comparison, and while both have their differences in their expressive art, there is a seeming competition between AI and TA in which there will need to be a victor (not Hugo).
TA has long been a beautiful dance and a carefully crafted art in reaching out to people, building connections, and growing a community. Each TA professional had had a uniquely artistic approach, and individual signature, if you will. With the introduction of AI technologies over the past few years, and the “speed is king” mentality, I fear that we are trending in a way where the artistic value of TA is fading.
Now, I don’t think that AI necessitates the diminishing artwork of TA, but it certainly invites it. Seeing the high levels of automation, and the push from platforms we use to generate outreach on your behalf, we are losing what made us unique. Lazy TA folks can automate their way through each week with fairly mediocre results with tools currently on the market. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge advocate for automation and innovation, but do so with intentionality.
So how do we bridge AI and art (aside from Dall-e, Midjourney, etc.)? Here are a few suggestions that I have to partner with TA, so that both TA and AI can coexist.
To do this:
In practice, this may look similar to market research.
You could also do this with a prompt along the lines of: “I’m looking for a candidate that has experience with “X”. What other words / tools / experiences would be an indicator that someone would have relevant experience using “X”.” Then take your results and ask the platform to turn those results into an OR Boolean string.
Congratulations, you’ve now broadened your scope of relevant potential matches!
This one is a game changer.
Just like the printing press didn’t truly kill architecture, AI doesn’t have to kill the art of talent acquisition, it just changes the landscape. The challenge for us in TA is to embrace these tools not as replacements, but as partners in our craft.
We are the architects of connection, the storytellers behind the outreach, and the artists who bring heart to hiring. AI can enhance our work, but it’s up to us to keep the human element alive. So let’s not lose the art to automation. Let’s wield these new tools with intention, and continue to build something meaningful, one connection at a time.