Opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence in recruitment and selection

Purpose The purpose of this study is to contribute to the knowledge on the opportunities and risks in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in recruitment and selection by exploring the perspectives of recruitment professionals in a multicultural multinational organisation. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative approach was used in this exploratory study. Face-to-face, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with ten professional recruiters who worked for a multinational corporation. Findings The findings revealed that AI facilitates the effective performance of routine tasks through automation. However, the adoption of AI technology in recruitment and selection is also fraught with risks that engender fear and distrust among recruiters. The effective adoption of AI can improve recruitment strategies. However, cynicism exists because of the fears of job losses to automation, even though the participants thought that their jobs would continue to exist because recruiters should always be humans. Originality/value This paper provides a unique exploration of the opportunities and risks in the adoption of AI for the recruitment and selection function in human resource management. The benefits are the delegation of routine tasks to AI and the confirmation of the crucial role of professional recruiters.