The Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Online Assessment Center, a Paradox in the Digital Age

prasmul-eli and Talentlytica, a start-up company that focuses on providing assessment technology services for human resource assessment purposes, held a webinar entitled "Improving Assessor Competence in the Digital Age with Online Assessment Center". The webinar thoroughly explores the position of the Assessment Center Assessor in the midst of the onslaught of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology which can be said to "threaten" the position of the Assessors because AI itself can work faster in making a report or writing, when compared to even the most experienced Assessor. However, it turns out that in the Online Assessment center, the assessor still takes a very important role in the Assessment Center. AI can certainly play a big role in making the Assessment Center process more effective and efficient, but to completely replace the Assessors who have the wisdom and flexible cognition abilities like humans, is not possible for AI in most scenarios.

Here are some reasons why it is not possible for AI to create an Assessment Center report:

Complex Evaluation Methods:

Assessment Center assessors often evaluate not only the outcome of tasks, but also the process, interpersonal skills, decision-making, and other aspects of a candidate's behavior. AI, while capable of analyzing certain types of data and responses, may struggle to capture the complexity of interactions, discussions, expressions, gestures and the general context of human thought.

 Subjectivity and Context:

Assessment Center Assessors conduct assessments using analytical skills, real-world experience, intuition, and wisdom to assess situational context that is currently difficult for AI to accurately replicate. In addition, Assessors are able to read subtle cues, adapt evaluation criteria based on real-world observations, and provide holistic feedback that considers factors beyond quantitative calculations, including recognizing whether participants are using AI to respond within the Assessment Center.

 Ethical Considerations:

Using AI to make decisions in an Assessment Center process raises ethical issues related to bias, fairness, and transparency. Assessors who have been specifically trained in Assessment Centers are better equipped to deal with these ethical challenges, as they are already skilled and will ensure that assessments are fair and inclusive.

 Candidate Experience:

Candidates will often feel much more comfortable interacting with humans in an Assessment Center process, as it involves more emotion, including empathy, understanding, and personalized feedback. The Assessment Center Assessor can provide a personal touch that may be difficult for AI to replicate effectively.

 Assessment Center is indeed a process that is more dominated by humans, the use of technology including AI in it, will indeed be very helpful in the administrative process, but not in the end result. In the end, human expertise and technological advances such as AI will produce a unique combination of efficient and effective processes, if used properly.

Gardhika Waskita Pakqi
Resident Assessor of prasmul-eli