Mitigating Diversity Biases of AI in the Labor Market

A recent Sage study suggests that 24 % of companies used Natural Language Processing (NLP) in applications applied by Human Resources Management (HRM). However, NLP relies on biased models. In an employment context, this could lead to biased decisions that run contrary to the goals of the European Pillar of Social Rights and the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The EU-funded BIAS project will investigate and mitigate the diversity biases of AI in the labour market. The project will develop a proof-of-concept for an innovative technology based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Case Based Reasoning (CBR) for use in an HR recruitment use case. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in the employment sector to manage and control individual workers. One type of AI is Natural Language Processing (NLP) based tools that can analyze text to make inferences or decisions. A recent Sage study found that 24% of companies used AI for hiring purposes. In an employment context, this can involve analyzing text created by an employee or recruitment candidate in order to assist management in deciding to invite a candidate for an interview, to training and employee engagement, or to monitor for infractions that could lead to disciplinary proceedings. However, the models that NLP-based systems are based on are biased. Additionally, it has been shown that bias in an underlying AI model is reproduced in applications based on that model). This can lead to biased decisions that run contrary to the goals of the European Pillar of Social Rights in relationship to work and employment, specifically Pillar 2 (Gender Equality), Pillar 3 (Equal Opportunity), Pillar 5 (Secure and Adaptable Employment) and the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). It is therefore necessary to identify and mitigate biases that occur in applications used in a Human Resources Management (HRM) context. Addressing such concerns in an employment context is especially relevant, as most existing European studies on employment discrimination have indeed found that discrimination exists, both when considering individual diversity criteria and multiple criteria in intersectional analyses. In order to investigate and mitigate these biases, we apply this “BIAS”-project, for mitigating diversity biases of AI in the labor market. The chief technical objective of BIAS is the development of a proof-of-concept for an innovative technology based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Case Based Reasoning (CBR) for use in an HR recruitment use case.