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Researchers warn that artificial intelligence is being used unscientifically to infer personality traits from small gestures such as head tilt, speech intonation and vocabulary.
Algorithm developers often claim that their programs can recognize the “Big 5” personality traits—conscientiousness, extroversion, openness, neuroticism, and agreeableness.
But scientists point out that people can demonstrate conscientiousness or agreeableness in different ways, and there is no universal interpretation of what someone means or intends with a gesture or phrase.
“Automated Pseudoscience”
The team said that using AI to judge personality is an “automated pseudoscience” reminiscent of physiognomy or phrenology – the discredited beliefs that character can be inferred from facial features and skull shape.
“We are concerned that some suppliers are packaging ‘snake oil’ products in shiny packaging and selling them to unsuspecting customers,” said co-author Dr Eleanor Drage.
“While companies may not be acting in bad faith, there is little accountability for how these products are created or tested.
“As such, this technology and the way it is marketed can be dangerous sources of misinformation about how recruitment can be made ‘unbiased’ and fairer.”
A 2020 survey of 500 organizations across industries in five countries found that 24 percent of businesses have implemented AI for recruiting purposes and 56 percent of hiring managers plan to adopt it in the next year.
Another survey of 334 HR leaders, conducted in April 2020 as the pandemic hit, found that 86 percent of organizations were incorporating new virtual technologies into hiring practices.
Greater adoption of AI tools by HR
The rise of working from home, combined with pandemic office restrictions, has also led to more companies using the software.
“This trend was already in place at the start of the pandemic, and the accelerated shift to online work caused by Covid-19 is likely to lead to greater adoption of AI tools by HR departments in the future,” said co-author Dr Kerry Mackerett .
“High-volume recruiting is increasingly untenable for HR teams desperate for software to cut costs, as well as for a pipeline of candidates in need of personal attention.”
To prove just how biased the programs are, Cambridge created its own version, called The Personality Machine, which allows people to change their image to see how it affects their perceived character.
The team hopes it will help prospective candidates “beat the algorithms” and give job seekers a taste of the kind of AI scrutiny they’re under.
The research was published in the journal Philosophy and Technology.
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