Amazon unveils AI hiring software to automate interviews for 250,000 seasonal workers annually

Amazon targets mass hiring with agentic software, goal to humanize AI

SAN FRANCISCO, April 28 (Reuters) - Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab, which hires hundreds of thousands of workers every year for the holiday rush, on Tuesday introduced new software meant to speed up the process by excising a sizable chunk of the human element: the face-to-face job interview. The Seattle-based firm also outlined its new homegrown artificial intelligence design philosophy called "humorphism" that Amazon said helps humanize AI and "adapts to how humans work, not the other way around." The company announced the software offerings at an event where the CEO of Amazon Web Services, Matt Garman, as well as executives from OpenAI, are expected to appear. Amazon in February said it would invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI ⁠and Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab said on Monday it would lose exclusive access to some of OpenAI's technology, clearing the path for the ChatGPT creator to sell its products to others. A focus of the event is autonomous artificial intelligence software, known as "agents," that can run processes with little to no human intervention. The hope is that such agents can plan, decide and act on their own, a fast-growing field that has also sparked concerns over safety and oversight. Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab last week signaled it is also pushing deeper into enterprise software with its own AI agents, following others like OpenAI and Anthropic. Amazon's new mass hiring software, called Connect Talent, will help firms find, screen and recruit workers needed for large-scale hiring, such as retailers during the peak holiday selling season. Using artificial intelligence, Connect Talent can conduct AI-led interviews around the clock and prepare notes for ⁠recruiters, all without human intervention. Amazon last year hired around 250,000 seasonal workers leading up to the holidays. Colleen Aubrey, the AWS senior vice president of applied AI solutions, said job candidates would know they are being screened using AI and acknowledged it was still being refined to sound more convincingly human. "The experience continues to get better and better each iteration we go through," she said in a briefing with Reuters before the event. "There's some art around ⁠making that voice interaction natural and human." Amazon's "humorphism" philosophy is an attempt to humanize AI, said Aubrey, even as the broad adoption of the technology has sparked concerns it could lead to job losses. Indeed, the company has tied some of the roughly 30,000 corporate jobs it cut since October to efficiencies gained ⁠through AI use. "How do we translate the human behaviors of working together into a product?" she said, referring to AI. "That's what we're going after and hopefully you'll see that." The company on Tuesday also introduced a new product called Connect Decisions, which can analyze and compile ⁠data for supply chain planning and purchasing. Aubrey said Amazon's own supply chain experiences, such as materials for its network of warehouses, helped create the new software. With Connect Decisions, companies will be "able to have AI do that work behind the scenes and be able to equip a planner with the data that they need," she said. Reporting by Greg Bensinger; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Artificial Intelligence Greg Bensinger Thomson Reuters Greg Bensinger joined Reuters as a technology correspondent in 2022 focusing on the world's largest technology companies. He was previously a member of The New York Times editorial board and a technology beat reporter for The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. He also worked for Bloomberg News writing about the auto and telecommunications industries. He studied English literature at The University of Virginia and graduate journalism at Columbia University. Greg lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children.

Amazon targets mass hiring with agentic software, goal to humanise AI - The Economic Times

Amazon is pushing the boundaries of recruitment with their latest AI interview software, designed to conduct sessions automatically and speedily for seasonal positions. This revolutionary approach is paired with the launch of 'humorphism', a design concept that prioritizes a human touch in artificial intelligence. Amazon, which hires hundreds of thousands of workers every year for the holiday rush, on Tuesday introduced new software meant to speed up the process by excising a sizable chunk of the human element: the face-to-face job interview. The Seattle-based firm also outlined its new homegrown artificial intelligence design philosophy called "humorphism" that Amazon said helps se AI and "adapts to how humans work, not the other way around." The company announced the software offerings at an event where the CEO of Amazon Web Services, Matt ⁠Garman, as ⁠well as executives from OpenAI, are expected to appear. Amazon in February said it would invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI and Microsoft said on Monday it would lose exclusive access to some of OpenAI's technology, clearing the path for the ChatGPT creator to sell its products to others. A focus of the event is autonomous artificial intelligence software, known as "agents," that can run processes with little to no human intervention. The hope is that such agents can plan, decide and act on their own, a fast-growing field that has also sparked concerns over safety and oversight. Alphabet last ⁠week signaled it is also pushing deeper into enterprise software with its own AI agents, following others like OpenAI and Anthropic. Amazon's new mass hiring software, called Connect Talent, will help firms find, screen and recruit ⁠workers needed for large-scale hiring, such as retailers during the peak holiday selling season. Using artificial intelligence, Connect Talent can conduct AI-led interviews around the clock and prepare notes for recruiters, all without human intervention. Amazon last year hired around 250,000 seasonal workers leading up to the holidays. Colleen Aubrey, the AWS senior vice president of applied AI solutions, said job candidates would know they are being screened using AI and acknowledged it was still being refined to sound more convincingly human. "The experience continues to get better and better each iteration we go through," she said in a briefing with Reuters before the event. "There's some art around making that voice interaction natural and human." Amazon's "humorphism" philosophy is an attempt to humanize AI, said Aubrey, even as the broad adoption of the technology has sparked concerns it could lead to job losses. Indeed, ⁠the company has tied some of the roughly 30,000 corporate jobs it cut since October to efficiencies gained through AI use. "How do we translate the human behaviors of working together into a product?" she said, referring to AI. "That's what we're going after and hopefully you'll see that." The company on Tuesday also introduced a new product called Connect Decisions, which can analyze and compile data for supply chain planning and purchasing. Aubrey said Amazon's own supply chain experiences, such as materials for its network of warehouses, helped create the new software. With Connect Decisions, companies will be "able to have AI do that work behind the scenes and be able to equip a planner with the data that they need," she said.

Amazon Unveils AI Hiring Software To Replace Face-To-Face Interviews As It Automates Seasonal Recruitment

On Tuesday, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) expanded its artificial intelligence ambitions with new software designed to automate large-scale hiring. Amazon Launches AI Recruiting Platform For High-Volume Hiring At a company event, Amazon introduced Connect Talent, an AI-powered recruitment platform that can identify, screen and interview job candidates around the clock without direct human involvement. The software is tailored for businesses managing mass hiring needs, such as retailers ramping up staffing during holiday seasons. Amazon, which hired about 250,000 seasonal employees last year, said the platform can streamline recruiting by conducting automated voice interviews and generating recruiter notes. Colleen Aubrey, senior vice president of applied AI solutions at Amazon Web Services, said candidates will be informed when AI is used in the screening process. In the press release, she said, "We see many organizations face the same challenges when it comes to high-volume hiring." Amazon's 'Humorphism' Strategy Aims To Humanize AI Alongside the hiring tool, Amazon unveiled its internal AI design philosophy called "humorphism," which focuses on building AI systems that adapt to human workflows rather than forcing workers to adjust to technology. "How do we translate the human behaviors of working together into a product?" Aubrey told Reuters. "That's what we're going after." Amazon Q1 Earnings Preview Amazon is set to release its first-quarter financial results on Wednesday after the market closes. Analysts tracked by Benzinga Pro expect the e-commerce and cloud giant to post first-quarter revenue of $177.31 billion, compared with $155.7 billion during the same period last year. Amazon has consistently outperformed revenue expectations, beating analyst estimates in each of the past six quarters and in nine of the last 10 reporting periods. For earnings, analysts forecast first-quarter earnings per share of $1.64, slightly above the $1.59 reported a year earlier. Price Action: Amazon shares closed Tuesday at $259.70, down 0.52%. The stock slipped an additional 0.012% to $259.67 in after-hours trading. According to Benzinga Edge data, Amazon scores in the 93rd percentile for Growth, signaling a strong performance trend across short, medium and long-term trends. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.