As more employers turn to artificial intelligence (AI) to review job applications, there are growing concerns that AI could amplify bias and limit hiring opportunities.
“That’s the risk of AI,” explains Kristin Schwartz, senior manager at CultureLink. “For example, if there is a pattern of favoring candidates from certain Canadian universities, the AI will silently learn what that looks like in a good candidate.”
Schwartz told OMNI News that knowing how employers are using AI can be helpful, and despite institutional barriers, payment institution customers shouldn’t give up hope.
“Everyone is trying to understand AI to weed out people who don’t fit the mold more effectively than ever before,” she says.
Concerns about the use of AI and the lack of transparency and fairness in recruitment processes are not new, but researchers warn that immigrants may be uniquely affected.
Rupa Banerjee, Canada Research Chair in Economic Inclusion, Employment and Entrepreneurship, said, “It’s no surprise that when you layer algorithmic bias with individual human bias, it puts some people at an unfair disadvantage compared to others.”
Banerjee’s research at Toronto Metropolitan University studies what happens when AI decides who has access to job opportunities.
What we’re hearing from both employers and job seekers is that the lack of humanity in this process is fueling mistrust and leaving new hires feeling disappointed and disillusioned.
“It actually seems to be reinforcing the stigma even more,” she told OMNI News, adding that one employer she spoke to said they were very concerned about even bringing immigrants in for interviews. Because now, he added, “we don’t know if they’re just using ChatGPT and don’t speak English at all, and the stakes are much higher than in the past, when all we could do was screen out people whose language skills clearly weren’t up to the required level.”
This comes at a time when newcomers are already struggling to get their credentials recognized.
Over the past two years, more than 32 per cent of recent immigrants said they were overqualified for the job, according to Statistics Canada.
But some think AI could help new entrants fill the gap.
“You can actually input your job application into the AI and it will simulate an interview, and it will tell you what you were good at, where you were weak, and where there is room for improvement,” Simon Treversen, CEO of the Toronto Regional Immigrant Employment Council, told OMNI.
“We tend to think of it as a problem, but there are definitely opportunities in how to actually strengthen your abilities as an applicant.”
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