Have you ever thought that you would have to “deal” with a robot? That’s what is about to happen in England

In the 4.0 era, science gradually developed systems that could replace humans in so many things. There have even been fears that humans will soon be machine-eliminated, leading to so many people not being able to adapt to falling into unemployment.

But when it comes to job interviews, have you ever thought you would have to interview the same robot? That story is about to come true, at least in the UK. Specifically, Pactum – a company in Estonia (a European country) – recently created an AI-powered chatbot system that can interview candidates and "pay" them.

According to the company, the purpose of creating this chatbot is to help candidates be able to deal better salaries when interviewing, including contract terms, living location and holiday compensation. allowed. Especially, the system will not be affected by factors such as gender, ethnicity, age or class – which is almost impossible when interviewing with real people.

"Every interview is a stressful affair, everyone does," – Kaspar Korjus, co-founder of the company said. "Suppose the company hires you and starts asking about your desired salary, the pressure immediately comes on. You may not know what to say at this time, or how to express your aspirations properly."

Releasing pressure for young people to apply for a job

The chatbot system, built by the founders of Skype and Transferwise, is thought to eliminate anxiety for candidates. The reason is because they will interview via a phone app.

Initially, the AI ​​system will ask a series of questions. "For example, the company will be willing to pay you higher after taking into account 10 factors: title, holiday, or can work from home on the weekend," – Kaspar said.

The algorithm then makes the offer itself based on the responses, and candidates have the right to accept or decline at that time.

Kaspar created Pactum with his two brothers, Kristjan and Martin Rand, with the expectation of creating a fairer "playing field" for businesses and workers. At the present time, their system has been used to negotiate the initial contract, but in the future can bring greater benefits, such as helping workers confidently agree to a raise.

According to a study from Carnegie Mellon University, men who apply for a raise are four times more likely to be women than women. Moreover, when women negotiate, they usually ask for about 30% lower than men. It is from these figures that women often find it difficult to sign contracts or claim their rights.

Kaspar believes that negotiating with robots will be the solution to this story. "Even for people who are old and do not like computers, they will love it," – he confidently said. Pactum's algorithm also helps save more time for businesses when negotiating to sign contracts with workers.

Not everyone agrees

Corinne Mills – general manager of human resources management firm Personal Career Management, expressed concern that the nature of AI will make potential candidates feel disrespectful. "Most of us, nobody wants to be seen as a tool."

Kristjan did not think so. He believes that AI will soon replace humans in many positions, and this is an inevitable trend. "In the next 20 years, people will not need to get involved in the contracting process any more. The salary offer will be done by AI."

At the moment, AI has already really taken part in this process. In September 2019, Unilever used AI to analyze the speech, tone and expression of employees applying for the corporation. Hirevue – an American company has also developed an AI system that supports interviews, allowing an initial chat round instead of the usual boring CV filtering step.

Reference: Science Alert, Telegraph