Using artificial intelligence for hiring talents in a moderated mechanism

(2024) 10:13 Islam et al. Future Business Journal https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-024-00303-x Future Business Journal Open Access RESEARCH Using artificial intelligence for hiring talents in a moderated mechanism Muhaiminul Islam1 , Md. Mahbubur Rahman1 , Md. Abu Taher2, G. M. Azmal Ali Quaosar3    and Md. Aftab Uddin4*    Abstract Globally, artificial intelligence (AI) occupies a burgeoning space among recruiters as it replaces many of the recruitment and selection tasks while hiring the talents. Despite the existence and acceptance of AI being unprecedented among savvy recruiters, the study of it in developing countries’ contexts is still at a fancy stage. Particularly, the extant literature documented that very little is known about the intention and actual use (AU) of AI to hire talents with the intervening effects of voluntariness of usage (VU), tenure, and education of the recruiters elsewhere. Hence, using the doctrine of the extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), the present study aims to unpack the intention and AU of AI among hiring professionals in the context of Bangladesh, a developing country in the South Asian region. A multi-item questionnaire survey was employed to collect the data of recruiters from talent acquisition departments in both manufacturing and service organizations with a convenience sampling technique. We used partial least square-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) version 4.0.8.9 to analyze the data. Results showed that performance expectancy (PE), facilitating conditions (FC), and hedonic motivation (HM) have a significant influence on the intention to use (IU) AI (p < 0.05), and IU also predicts AU of AI significantly (p < 0.05). The moderating influence of VU has an insignificant effect on the positive influence of IU on AU. Moreover, the multi-group analysis showed that there is no significant difference between young adults and old adults and highly educated and lowly educated on the association between IU and AU. The findings in this study showed important notations that contributed to advancing the knowledge and filling the gap in the extant literature. Additionally, it also provides fresh insights for developing policy interventions to hire professionals for thriving AI adoption in the context of developing countries effectively. Keywords Artificial intelligence, Talent hiring, Human resource professionals, UTAUT, Bangladesh *Correspondence: Md. Aftab Uddin 1 Department of Organization Strategy and Leadership, Faculty of Business Studies, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh 2 University Grants Commission of Bangladesh, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh 3 Department of Management Studies, Comilla University, Cumilla 3506, Bangladesh 4 Department of Human Resource Management, University of Chittagong, Chittagong 4331, Bangladesh Introduction The current and future talent management practices are incessantly transforming into a tech-based work system where artificial intelligence (AI), being a multifaceted tool with the capacity to instigate a profound transformation in the global business arena [1–4], has already received significant research attention across diverse academic domains, including in business [3, 5, 6]. According to Agarwal et al. [7], Chen et al. [8], and Regona et al. [9], the assimilation of AI into business operations and strategic functions is already evident across organizations of varying sizes and types, signifying the widespread adoption of this technology irrespective of geographical © The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Islam et al. Future Business Journal (2024) 10:13 boundaries. Given its recent emergence, the incorporation of AI within business sectors remains an ongoing exploration, continually unveiling innovative applications and novel use cases [3, 10]. Nonetheless, according to Chen et al. [8] and Regona et al. [9], the effective integration of AI in organizational contexts necessitates careful consideration of both human elements and competitive dynamics. Considering the role of AI in business and already acknowledged complexities regarding the AI adoption related issues, further research in this area is both reasonable and viable. Despite the benefits of AI application in business operation, the adoption rate in different Asian countries remained negligible, as suggested by the report published by People_Matters [11]. The report revealed that in countries, namely Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia only 24.6%, 17.1%, 9.9%, and 8.1%, respectively, businesses are utilizing AI in their business operations. Similarly, the study by Pillai, Sivathanu [12] concluded that only 22% organizations in India are using AI in their business activities and processes. These results and the arguments presented by Pillai, Sivathanu [12] are signifying an early stage of adoption for AI technologies in this region. Researchers, such as Chen et al. [8], Hossin et al. [13], Uddin et al. [14] and Uddin et al. [14] have already attempted to explore the reasons of low adoption rate in this region. However, notwithstanding the benefits of AI in human resource (HR) recruits the adoption rate remained negligible [13]. Though a large number of research focused on the impact of AI on business operations and performance [2, 6, 15, 16], the human resistance toward it is visible, which in most cases, if not all, cannot be explained using its stated benefits [17]. Notably, within the realm of human resource management (HRM) activities, AI’s most conspicuous application emerges in the employee recruitment process [18, 19], an area of research that exhibits a dearth of diversity and primarily centers its attention on developed countries [20, 21]. Deterioratingly, the factors affecting the adoption of AI in the employee recruitment process remained largely unknown when the perspective of developing countries is considered [22, 23]. AI, in the context of talent acquisition, can be defined as a sophisticated, automated, and computerized tool possessing a high degree of intelligence, which aids in the evaluation of applicants and the identification of suitable e (...truncated)