AI Personality Tests – How Much “Human” Are We Taking Out of Human Resources?

Recently I talked to a sales person from a firm that offered AI personality tests to prospective job candidates so that organizations could filter the right people to hire. What do I think of that?

The Personality Test That Went Wrong

When I was a university student I once applied for a job in retail. I was given a “personality test” to assess my suitability for the job. On it were a couple of questions I was concerned about. They were worded differently but boiled down to the same thing. “In your previous job did you ever think about how people could steal from the organization?”  And guess what my previous job was – in loss prevention. Basically I was an undercover retail detective. So my job was literally to think about ways people could steal from the organization and stop them. 

If I was truly someone who was going to steal or commit fraud in this new job I was appying for I would have simply lied on the test.  But since I was honest and I’d listed my previous job already I put yes. I explained to the person running the test why I answered the way I did. But it didn’t matter. The answers were fed into a computer with ZERO context and immediately rejected. 

This is a very simple example of how computers and AI should NOT replace human judgement, and I know tests today are more sophisticated. but In any sort of survey or test there will be many inherent biases and as a result great candidates will fall through the cracks. In fact, I would suggest that it’s often the creative and brilliant people who DO fall through the cracks. There are also a LOT of people out there who find these tests dehumnaizing and anxiety-inducing. 

Also if you set up a rigid system – unethical people, as they always have, will game that system. And the honest ones – you’ll never see. 

Should Personality Tests Be Used as Gates?

Personality tests can have their uses and can likely help some people understand themselves better or better manage their teams.  But using it as a gate or filter without context is a bad idea that will keep you from creating diverse teams that produce brilliant work. 

Technology can scale decisions. It can’t replace judgment.
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