Will artificial intelligence be a recruiter’s new best friend?
Summary
Intrinsically linked is the acknowledgement of the benefits that having a diverse workforce can bring – from increased productivity to improved reputation, to the ability to better compete in global markets. The protected characteristics are set out in The Equality Act 2010, and include age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. We are already seeing an increase of AI disputes reaching the courts, but these tend to be personal injury and negligence claims, where the principles of the law of tort are relied on to establish liability. A recent case which reached the Employment Appeal Tribunal concerned a respondent organisation that had used a simple form of recruitment AI to ask job applicants multiple choice questions. Furhat and TNG agree that the best way to minimise risks such as machine learning bias and potential discrimination claims is taking care to input diverse data.