Can AI eliminate bias from the government hiring process?

AI and machine learning can now not only administer the questions in the hiring process, but also score the responses. The approach may have considerable merit in making the hiring process more inclusive and fairer. — 123rf.com

It is not a simple proposition, but the pandemic aftertimes, coupled with the novel use of some not-so-new technology, could provide an interesting test bed for hiring the right person for the right job as public agencies backfill open positions, all with the bonus of mitigating implicit bias against job candidates.

As with most inflection points, the moment has a number of moving parts. Employers, including public agencies, are scrambling to figure the flavour of hybrid working setups that will meet with the least resistance from employees while supporting basic operations. The best-case scenario would be to put public employees closer to the people who need government services – that probably is not the old office, but probably is not the employees’ homes either.