We've seen AI--more specifically, machine learning--do some creepy things with faces, as well as some groundbreaking things with viruses. But it can still be applied to random, fun stuff, like sorting LEGO. Or, as YouTuber Ryder Calm Down shows here, complimenting passing dogs. Because the world is full of really good pooches and they should know it! Gizmodo picked up on the above video, which the Canadian YouTuber and software engineer recently posted to his channel.

We hear a lot about AI's effect on jobs, but what about its effect on recruiters? This article explains how AI can improve life for recruiters as well as what AI can't and shouldn't do, writes Matt Fischer, president and CTO of Bullhorn. One popular image of artificial intelligence is that of robots taking over the world à la The Matrix or Westworld, but even the comparatively gentle image of AI-driven machines taking our jobs is overstated. AI is, however, poised to play a great role in transforming staffing and recruiting. According to our research at Bullhorn, more than half of recruiting industry professionals and executives professed at least some knowledge of AI technology, and it follows that they recognize how it might help them.

We hear a lot about AI's effect on jobs, but what about its effect on recruiters? This article explains how AI can improve life for recruiters as well as what AI can't and shouldn't do, writes Matt Fischer, president and CTO of Bullhorn. One popular image of artificial intelligence is that of robots taking over the world à la The Matrix or Westworld, but even the comparatively gentle image of AI-driven machines taking our jobs is overstated. AI is, however, poised to play a great role in transforming staffing and recruiting. According to our research at Bullhorn, more than half of recruiting industry professionals and executives professed at least some knowledge of AI technology, and it follows that they recognize how it might help them.

"companies need to both embrace new technology and retain talented recruiters" AI may have only recently emerged into the popular consciousness, but it is certainly not new. People have been researching AI since the 1950s with famous AI systems making headlines in the decades since, including IBM's Watson, which famously won the TV quiz show Jeopardy! in 2011. But AI technology is now cheaper than ever to develop, opening it up to more businesses. And thanks to its ubiquity, AI is slowly becoming a more recognizable part of our daily lives. This proliferation has inspired scare stories about AI taking work away from humans.

Bullhorn, the cloud computing company that helps staffing and recruiting organizations transform their businesses, found that 84 percent of global recruitment firms feel the need to embrace digital transformation -- defined as the integration of technology into all areas of their business for the purposes of improving operations and the way they deliver value to customers -- to remain competitive. According to Bullhorn's 2019 Global Recruitment Insights and Data research, 55 percent of respondents believe that artificial intelligence -- one aspect of the digital transformation journey -- will have a positive impact on candidate and customer engagement. While firms see digital transformation as an opportunity, they also acknowledge it as a challenge. Forty-nine percent of them rank embracing digital transformation to improve operations as their top operational hurdle, ahead of pricing pressure and margin compression (44 percent) and increased competition from freelance and gig platforms (27 percent). Bullhorn's Global Recruitment Insights and Data research also illuminates overall optimism for 2019, despite persistent concerns and challenges related to tight talent pools, candidate-driven market and economic conditions, and macroeconomics and politics.

The UK recruitment industry has historically had an open mind about technology: wherever possible, it's been an enthusiastic early adopter of new software and services. It's not hard to see why. Engaging with people is at the very heart of recruitment: it's why people get into the business. Everything else – the data entry, the meeting preparation, the reporting – is just process, and while it's certainly important, the less involved a recruiter is with it, the better. And yet, Bullhorn's 2018 UK Recruitment Trends Report suggests a degree of hesitance around technological adoption.

According to Bullhorn's 2018 UK Recruitment Trends report, nearly half (48%) of UK recruitment agencies are looking to increase their levels of technological investment over the coming year, with a view to improving client and candidate engagement, and driving improvements in day-to-day operational efficiency. The rise of artificial intelligence – in all its myriad forms – should theoretically help them achieve these objectives in the decades to come. Theory, of course, is often different from practice, so it's worth examining the ways in which recruiters can relate to this technology. See also: Could robots take over in the HR department? When people talk about the rise of automation, two things tend to happen.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is not always easy to understand. It has a long and complex history that dates to the 1950s. Up until recently, the development of AI has been relatively slow and commonly confused with automation. The two are often referred to in the same sentence, but have distinctly different uses. Automation is the process of making software (or indeed, hardware) automate routine tasks, following a prescribed set of instructions.