Robot in a suit
UPS Longitudes.

Last week, Mya Systems secured $11.4 million in Series A funding to continue developing its AI recruiter bot, Mya. The intelligent assistant performs job interviews and decides whether a candidate is suitable or not for a position using machine learning.

The company says the bot is already used by several high-profile firms, including even recruiting platforms. Some of these clients claim their hiring process is significantly faster than before. It consists a chatbot and leads approved applicants to the next step of the process with a human reviewer.

Ironically, one of the most sought-after careers in tech nowadays is precisely AI. Amazon alone last year offered over 1,000 jobs in the field and invested close to a quarter of a million dollars. Others like Google, Microsoft, Intel, and Facebook are also among the top recruiters in the segment.

How does Mya interview applicants?

Mya, short for My Assistant, launched last summer to a handful of startups interested in stepping up their recruiting game. Not long after, A-listers and industry leaders also wanted to try the bot so they could ease up the workload on human recruiters.

The chatbot integrates seamlessly with virtual recruiting platforms already in use at companies and organizations. Mya Systems tweaks it to the firm’s needs, and it learns from the host company’s database to further refine decision criteria.

In action, Mya works much like regular chatbots do nowadays. If it were not because the firm explicitly states that they are talking to an artificial interface, then most job candidates would be none the wiser about their interviewer.

Mya uses the knowledge it gathers from in-company databases to check worker profiles and detect desirable traits in aspiring employees. The assistant will ask the usual round of questions to applicants over the computer, looking to know about their experience, availability, wages, and more.

If the interview goes well, then Mya will approve applicants to move to the next phase of the hiring process with a human recruiter, even offering some tips on what to wear and what to ask about the job themselves.

What happens when the AI assistant doesn’t like you?

If the opposite happens, though, the AI recruiter will let job-seekers know about the interview outcome and suggest them some other positions based on their skills and location.

Some people worry about machines taking over their jobs, and recruiters are among that population. They argue that judging and deciding on someone that meets standards and fits into a certain profile is no work for software.

Others, however, are calm about the apparent dawn of AI recruitment. Most of the things systems like Mya do are tiresome tasks that include profile reviews, resume comparisons, criminal background checkups, and asking the same questions over and over again. Companies using Mya, for now, have had no trouble with it.

Source: CNN