Is AI discriminating against disabled job applicants?
Mark Walker | 08 Jul 2024Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered recruitment systems are discriminating against disabled people. The people developing and using the systems need to look again at how they work and employers of all sizes and sectors to understand the risks that they face when using these solutions.
In a fascinating video interview, AbilityNet's Robin Christopherson talks to Susan Scott Parker about the dangers of using AI-powered systems in recruitment. 
Susan has been a leading figure in workplace inclusion for many years.
The founder of the UK's Business Disability Forum, Susan is now the CEO of business disability international, a Strategic Advisor to the UN's ILO Global Business Disability Network and Founder of Disability Ethical? AI Alliance.
Robin is AbilityNet's Head of Digital Inclusion and a leading global expert in AI and disability.
Watch the interview below.
As Susan says:
“Most HR people do not understand how disability discrimination happens [in these systems]. They don't usually choose to treat disabled people unfairly, they just don't understand how it happens and what where the obstacles are that could be removed.
"So you've got recruiters who don't understand disability discrimination, and you've got developers of AI technology who don't understand it either.”
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These quotes from the interview illustrate Susan's concerns about how these systems are causing discrimination against disabled people:
- “For most organisations, diversity and inclusion does not make disability a priority.” - Susan Scott Parker
- “You can’t feel like you belong if you can’t get in.” - Susan Scott Parker
- “The AI developers saying we have removed all human bias is impossible because humans were involved in the process.” - Susan Scott Parker
- “We need to challenge the way [AI used in] HR is trained.” - Susan Scott Parker
