Page 144 - Fortune-November 01, 2018

HIRING SMARTER BUILDING THE
ULTIMATE MANAGER
THE HIRING PROCESS IS
fraught with challenges.
JUDGMENT OF HUMAN
Humans may be subtly or behavior was once reserved
unconsciously swayed by a for, well, humans. But
last name, a college, even the increasingly, algorithms
font size of a résumé. Now are the ones evaluating and
some companies are seeing drawing conclusions on our
if A.I. can help. actions and even intentions.
Applicants atVodafone, That’s especially true in the
Nielsen, andUnilever, for workplace, where HR depart-
example, play a smartphone ments are turning to A.I. for
game designed by A.I. start- more scalable (and hopefully,
up Pymetricsthat measures more reliable) insights into
cognitive and emotional possible attrition risks, at-
traits with an algorithm de- tributes of high performers,
signed to avoid racial, gender, and what makes teams tick.
or other bias. Unilever then Boston-based Humanyze is
asks top candidates selected experimenting with smart
by the software to record a ID badges that track how
video onHireVue, answer- employees interact with each
ing questions about how other throughout the day,
theywould handle various enabling employers to look
situations encountered on for patterns to figure out how
READING YOUR MIND the job. Another algorithm work actually gets done.
sifts the best candidates by
Textio, a Seattle startup,
reviewing not just what the uses A.I. to help companies
individuals said but also how craft the right recruiting
quickly they responded and
MOVE OVER, ALEXA. Voice control is cool—see our what emotional cues they ads (the “augmented writ-
feature on the topic on page 112—but consulting revealed in their facial ex- ing platform” is particu-
Alexa, Siri, or Cortana can be awkward and dis- pressions. Those candidates larly effective at surfacing
language that will attract
ruptive in public. Enter AlterEgo—a noninvasive, who pass the early tests are more diverse candidates).
wearable device created by MIT researchers that rewarded with regular job Big companies are getting
knows what you’re going to say before you even interviews with a live person. in on H-less HR too: Intel
open your mouth. The device can answer many Unilever says that since is looking at using artificial
queries within seconds, send private messages, it instituted the system intelligence to power a new
and internally record streams of information to it’s getting a higher rate of internal tool that would
acceptances when it offers
access at a later time—all without any observ- a job, and has increased match employees to other
able external actions. AlterEgo doesn’t really read applicant numbers across opportunities within the
minds, although it may sound that way. Instead, several diversity measures, company, all in the name of
retention.
the device effortlessly facilitates private human- including race, ethnicity, and These new capabilities
machine communication by interpreting electrical socioeconomic status—and could help companies at-
impulses in the jaw that are triggered when words that it’s drawing from a more tract and retain the talent
or phrases are internally vocalized. Although diverse pool at three times they need (and cut down on
university-based researchers are still in the pro- as many colleges and uni- onboarding and recruiting
cess of collecting data and training the system, versities. —Aaron Pressman costs by automating these
AlterEgo might also eventually serve as a platform processes). One possible
for communication between users in high-noise downside? They also risk
environments, such as the flight deck of an aircraft alienating the very people
or a factory floor, as well as a mode of communi- 20% they claim to serve—em-
ployees might not like
cation for those with speech impediments. And the increasingly intrusive
while AlterEgo could radically speed up the pro- workplace of tomorrow.
cess of writing, planning, and communicating, for PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE WHO WANT —Michal Lev-Ram
THEIR VOICE ASSISTANTS TO HELP
now, humans would still be the ones stuck actually THEM BE “FUNNIER OR MORE ATTRAC-
TIVE,” ACCORDING TO A STUDY BY
reading all those emails. —Carson Kessler COMPUTERLOVE IN THE U.K.

99
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANDREA MANZATI FO R T U N E. CO M // N O V. 1 . 1 8