Even just saying the words “job interview” can stress the average person out. Now imagine having a job interview, not with a human being, but an AI algorithm, that will decide your “employability” based on hundreds of data points about your micro-facial expressions and tiny inflections of your voice. Are you sweating yet?
A tech company, HireVue, is already making this a terrifying reality for job seekers.1 But their AI algorithm process is not just super-secret, it’s rife with the potential for employment discrimination. Instead of waiting for Congress to “catch up” with tech companies, we need to act now and demand they nip unfair algorithms like this in the bud.
Tell Congress: Using facial recognition in hiring practices needs to be banned as a form of unemployment discrimination!
A lot can go wrong with using face and voice recognition algorithms for hiring. First, people with accents, speech impediments, non-native English speakers, and even just people who speak in a different rhythm or cadence could be rejected for job opportunities even when they meet other job qualifications.
Second, HireVue uses trade secrets to avoid any kind of transparency in how their algorithm evaluates candidates. There could be massive flaws in how face and voice recognition algorithms mistakenly identify race and gender -- which is already a well-known pitfall of facial recognition technology.
Perhaps even worse, there’s no scientific consensus that micro-facial expressions and voice inflections have any bearing at all on a future employee’s performance, because, frankly, making that kind of judgment is impossible. If humans can’t really tell how qualified a job applicant is based on how their face changes when they smile or frown, how can algorithm, created by humans, be any different?
The potential to automate employment discrimination should raise hairs for anyone looking for a job, or looking to hire a new employee. And we can’t wait for Congress to get up to speed on this. If this kind of technology is allowed to proliferate, whole generations of women, people of color, immigrants, LGBT+ people, people with disabilities, or again, even just people with a unique voice or way of speaking, could be barred from employment on a massive scale.
So take action now: Tell Congress that using facial and voice recognition algorithms in hiring practices should be banned as a form of employment discrimination!