The Washington Post (WP) reported on the 20th (local time) that companies in the United States are leaving artificial intelligence (AI) to judge when deciding who to lay off.

According to the WP, in an online chat room where Google’s layoff targets gathered last month, it was said that ‘a nonchalant algorithm developed to avoid violating any law’ decided the target.

Google said that “algorithms were not involved” in its decision to cut jobs, but the WP reported that companies are already using AI for interviews, recruitment, and publicity.

Indeed, in a January survey of 300 human resources managers at U.S. companies, 98 percent said they would use software and algorithms to determine who to lay off this year.

It is explained that it is not easy to make a decision on the target without the help of AI as companies have recently launched large-scale layoffs of more than 10,000 people.

Recruitment companies are already using AI in their recruitment process. It uses an algorithm to convert the applicant’s career, ability, and technology into data so that companies can find the applicant they want.

The WP explained that if the program is used in reverse, it is possible for companies to select and fire underperformers. AI can also proactively identify employees who are about to change jobs.

However, experts advise that you should understand how algorithms work and are used before relying on them.

“We have to understand how algorithms work,” said Jeff Schurtz, vice president of human resources (HR) software company Glot. “We need to understand how people and algorithms work together.”

“Algorithms can be dangerous if they use the wrong data,” said Brian Westpole, an HR analyst at software evaluation site Captera.

Source: Donga