VOA慢速英语2021--More Job Seekers Have Interviews with Computers

 

Online services that use computers to interview job seekers were increasingly used by companies during the coronavirus health crisis. But the technology raises questions about whether a machine can correctly or fairly judge a person's personality and reactions in front of a camera.

Dana Anthony is one job seeker who has experienced such interviews. One was for a part-time job at Target last year. The day after the interview, she got an email informing her that she was not chosen.

Speaking to The Associated Press, Anthony said she did not know why she was removed from consideration so quickly. She had no sense of how the interview had gone. She said this is because she received no human feedback during the process.

Her rejection¹ email from Target stated: "We're unable to provide specific feedback regarding your candidacy." Anthony was rejected for another job in December after completing another online interview.

One interview system is run by a business called HireVue, one of the leading companies in the field. In the past, the Utah-based HireVue used artificial intelligence (AI) methods to judge a job-seeker's personality and job skills. It did this by observing the expressions on a person's face during the interview.

But after facing intense criticism about the scientific effectiveness of its claims and the possibility of unfairness, HireVue announced earlier this year that it would stop using that method. However, the company's AI-based system still considers speech and word choices when rating a candidate's personality and skills.

HireVue helped create a market for "on-demand" video interviews. Companies using the services include stores Target and Ikea, technology companies like Amazon, and banks like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs. Companies in the oil and travel industries, and even school systems, have used them.

The Associated Press (AP) spoke² to several employers which use the technology, but most did not want to discuss it.

HireVue chief Kevin Parker told the AP that his company makes sure its technology will not discriminate³ based on things like race, gender⁴ or a person's speaking accents. He said its systems, which turn speech into text to make decisions about job skills, can perform better than human interviewers.

"What we're trying to replace is people's gut⁵ instinct," Parker said during a video interview.

HireVue said it interviewed more than 5.6 million people around the world in 2020. Supermarket companies used it to make decisions about thousands of job-seekers every day as demand for workers rose during the pandemic.

Other services such as Modern Hire and Outmatch have started offering their own video interviews and AI tools. On its website, Outmatch says it aims to measure "the must-have soft skills your candidates and employees need to succeed."

HireVue noted⁶ that most of the companies it works with do not actually use the company's AI-based recommendations. Atlanta's school district, for example, has used HireVue since 2014, but says it depends on 50 human recruiters to rate recorded interviews.

Target said the pandemic led it to replace in-person interviews with HireVue interviews. But it told the AP that it uses its own employees — not HireVue's AI methods — to watch and make decisions about recorded videos.

But none of that was clear to Anthony when she sat down in front of her computer to complete the interviews. "I understand companies or organizations trying to be more mindful of the time and the finances they spend when it comes to recruitment," she said.

But Anthony, who holds a master's degree in communications, said the interviews left her uneasy about who, or what, was judging her.

Words in This Story

interview – n. a meeting in which someone asks you questions to see if you are suitable for a job or course

personality – n. the set of emotional qualities, ways of behaving, etc., that makes a person different from other people

artificial intelligence – n. an area of computer science that deals with giving machines the ability to seem like they have human intelligence

feedback –n. helpful information or criticism that is given to someone to say what can be done to improve a performance or product

accent – n. the way in which someone pronounces words, influenced by the country of area they come from

gender –n. the state of being male or female

gut instinct – n. a way of behaving, thinking, or feeling that is not learned

recruiter – n. a person who persuades people to work for a company or become new members of an organization

1 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

4 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

5 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。