The value of human choice in human resource decisions

HR managers frequently turn to artificial intelligence to help make hiring decisions, relying on recommendations from algorithms to decide who to interview and who to hire. Traditional interviews can be costly, and previous behavioral research suggests that humans are poor predictors of performance and fitness.

However, a new paper based on research led by Vikram R. Bhargava, assistant professor of strategic management and public policy at George Washington University, stresses the need to preserve human choice in these HR processes rather than relying on AI alone. The work has been published in the journal Quarterly work ethics.

“Even if concerns about data and bias in AI software are eventually ameliorated by an engineering solution, it still doesn’t settle the question of whether HR managers should defer to algorithms. It’s not because our gut instincts are so much higher — they often are.” No,” says Bhargava. “Rather, it’s because there are important (overlooked) moral values ​​created by us making choices — including choices about who to work with or not with — that would be compromised, if HR managers abandoned this option to an algorithm. This is so, no matter how sophisticated algorithms end up predicting employee fit and performance.”