How to Eliminate Hiring Bias - Dell Technologies

When candidates shortlisted for the strategic digital coordinator position at Sweden's Upplands-Bro Municipality showed up for their job interview in June, a 16-inch tall robot head called Tengai warmly greeted them. Sitting at eye-level on a table across the candidates, it blinked lightly and began the interview with a smile. It posed questions such as, "Can you describe a situation where you were faced with a problem that you needed to solve on your own?" Tengai could listen, speak, and react to candidates' answers while maintaining eye contact with them, thanks to its real-time visual tracking system. Occasionally, it would tilt its head, say "hmm" or lift the corners of its mouth into a smile during the interaction. "Upplands-Bro Municipality is the first employer in the world to use a social artificial intelligence-powered robot in the hiring process," says Elin Öberg Mårtenzon, chief innovation officer at TNG, the recruitment company behind Tengai.