Hiring with Soul: When AI Needs HR’s Human Touch

Anybody currently on the hunt for a new job will tell you AI is transforming UK recruitment.

Half of UK adults worry AI will take or alter their jobs, per a recent TUC poll while HR teams all over the world are investing in and upskilling in AI literacy at record speed. Yet as modern ATS platforms automate CV screening and candidate matching, one question remains. Can machine logic alone unearth true potential, or does the power of human intuition make the difference?

AI’s Recruitment Power

Leading AI tools can cut time-to-hire dramatically by sifting through thousands of CVs and spotlighting skills gaps, reducing it by up to 75% vs. traditional methods (“How AI is Reducing Time to Hire in Recruitment“, ReccoPilot, June 2025). They are considered particularly useful for exercises like high volume gradate recruitment and can even forecast a “cultural fit” from captured data patterns. Amid the current talent wars in today’s tech hiring market, this approach can prove a clear winner.

What is this missing though? By using just this approach, are we not picking up the intangibles like grit, adaptability, or team chemistry? Is there a real danger of bias regarding, for example, age discrimination? You can hire a candidate who dazzles on paper, but in practice does not work out for a variety of reasons – usually the aforementioned intangibles!

Risks of AI-Only Hiring

A BBC investigation in March this year exposed the pitfalls of relying solely on AI. It quoted the well-known legal firm, Mishcon de Reya’s use of AII chatbots to triage applications in the first stage but then switching to human intervention to detect motivation or hidden biases. The concerns were, that left unmonitored automated systems entrench inequalities and can screen out neurodiverse talent or unconventional career paths. Government Digital Service guidelines (“Responsible AI in Recruitment”, published by DSIT, March 2024) reinforce this: humans must oversee AI to dodge a “race to the bottom,” where volume eclipses hire quality and retention suffers.

The Winning Hybrid Approach

Success (as almost always) lies in partnership. AI can generate shortlists leaving recruiters to apply their knowledge and real-life experiences to unpack stories, assess culture-fit, and foster connection. (“Amplifying the Human Touch with AI-driven recruitment”, Teamtailor, April 2025). People Management reports that the UK HR thrives on this model, AI handles drafts and detection and humans own final decisions. This approach yields higher retention when intuition guides final decisions, turning data into real, effective and collaborative teams.

The Final Word

AI is and has been with us for a while now and is here to say. It’s how we actually maximise its use to provide a better, more efficient service without compromising on the human element.

Human intuition cannot be seen as a flaw. It is the edge we have for recruiting and retaining lasting talent.