A recent Pew Research Center survey found 71 percent of respondents oppose using AI to make final hiring decisions; 70 percent opposed using AI to analyze employees' facial expressions; and 61 percent opposed using AI to track employees' movement at work.

A majority of respondents also said they oppose using AI to keep track of workers in the office, to record computer activity, and to track how often workers take breaks.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents said, "they would not apply for a job with an employer that uses AI to assist hiring decisions." Opponents said they were concerned about the need to use the "right" keywords on job applications and the potential inability of AI to consider nonverbal candidate information.

However, the 32 percent of respondents who said they would apply for a job that uses AI in hiring cited a belief that AI would be less prejudiced or better see their qualities as reasons for doing so.

In fact, nearly half of respondents said they thought AI would be better at treating all job applicants equally. Among those who thought racial and ethnic bias was a problem in hiring, 53 percent thought AI would lead to more fair treatment.

Pew researchers noted that respondents with higher incomes had a more positive view of using AI in reviewing applications. White and Asian respondents saw more downsides to using AI to monitor workers.

Experts say that governments are scrambling to respond to the rapidly growing presence of AI in the workplace.

In January 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) held a hearing where experts showed that AI hiring tools "could be used as proxies for discriminatory preferences."

New York City will begin enforcing "a law requiring local employers to audit and notify job candidates about the use of automated employment decision tools" on July 5, 2023. It is one of the most restrictive AI-in-hiring laws in the U.S.

As a result, there are many considerations employers must make before deciding to implement AI in their employment processes. Ryan Golden "Most Americans oppose using AI to hire and monitor workers, Pew says" www.hrdive.com (Apr. 21, 2023).

So, the question for our readers is: Do You Plan To Use AI For Hiring?

Please take the poll. Here is the opinion of one of the McCalmon editorial staff:

Jack McCalmon, Esq.

AI can also develop biases. The EEOC is aware of this and has warned employers about the risk of using AI. My advice is to seek the advice of counsel before using AI for making hiring decisions.

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