When AI Hiring Becomes a Game of Telephone
AI is now involved on both sides of the hiring process. Candidates use it to polish applications. Employers use it to sort, summarize, and rank them. Each tool may seem helpful on its own, but the combined process deserves a closer look.
An HR Executive article describes AI in hiring as “a risky game of telephone.” That is a useful way to frame the concern. A candidate’s experience is translated into application language, interpreted by a screening system, and often reduced to a score or summary for a recruiter. By the time a person reviews it, what information has been lost?
The risk is easy to miss because the process can appear efficient. Applications move quickly, recruiters get shorter lists, and vendors can point to time saved. Yet a fast process is only valuable if it helps the organization identify people who can do the work. A qualified candidate whose experience does not match the tool’s preferred wording may never get a fair look.
That does not mean employers should avoid AI in hiring. It means they need to be clear about where it is used and what authority it has. Is a tool organizing applications, recommending candidates, or effectively deciding who moves forward? Those are different levels of responsibility, and each calls for a different level of oversight.
HR should define the job requirements and the decisions people need to make. IT should understand how applicant information moves between systems, who can access it, and what the vendor’s tool actually does. Together, they should test whether the process works as intended. That includes reviewing candidates the tool ranks poorly, checking whether summaries omit relevant experience, and giving recruiters a way to question the output.
A Fractional CIO can bring those pieces together without treating hiring as just another software purchase. An independent technology leader can help HR evaluate vendor claims, document the workflow, identify data and security concerns, and establish clear ownership for monitoring results. The aim is a process the organization can explain and improve, rather than one everyone assumes is working because it runs quickly.
Hiring decisions shape teams and careers. AI may help manage the workload, but leaders still need to know what happens between an application and a decision. If they cannot explain that path, it is time to slow down and examine it.
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