The Cover
Meet your AI recruiter
Debating the merits of human recruiters vs. AI chatbots
By Chloë Lane
This is a possible option where AI acts as a first layer of service to deal with queries and then more complex cases can be escalated to an admission team member
It’s no longer a question of whether AI will impact student recruitment, but how.
Less than two years have passed since ChatGPT was first released to the public. For many, OpenAI’s chatbot was their first real introduction to AI technology.
Now, in 2024, AI is being used regularly in many different industries and is continuing to grow. The global market for AI in education is expected to reach $6 billion by 2025.
In higher education specifically, one of the ways it is used is in helping students decide where to study. Over a third of students surveyed in a recent QS report said that Generative AI has influenced their choice of course, university and career.
When considering a study destination, applicants understandably have plenty of questions for students and faculty at their institution of interest. However, these questions can often go unanswered for a long time if asked outside of standard helpdesk hours. This is where AI chatbots come in.
AI alone is not enough to attract the best candidates
At the Open Institute of Technology (OPIT), an online institution which specialises in tech degrees, students undoubtedly prefer to interact with real tutors and appreciate the opportunity to meet professors and classmates face-to-face, even in a virtual setting. But when it comes to student recruitment, Greta Maiocchi, Head of Marketing and Admissions, can certainly see the appeal of an AI chatbot.
“AI chatbots can provide immediate answers at any time of day or night, which can be very convenient for students with busy or irregular schedules,” she says. “They can efficiently handle routine inquiries and provide instant information, but they do not replace the depth that human interactions offer.”
She raises the point that while AI chatbots can offer quick responses, they are limited by the data used to train them and might not fully address specific or nuanced queries. Besides, the empathy and personalised support provided by human interactions are crucial and cannot be easily replaced.
“Human touch fosters a sense of belonging and support that is essential for a fulfilling educational experience,” she admits.
A combination of AI chatbots and human interactions would therefore be the most effective approach for student recruitment, Maiocchi believes. This approach, she says, will maximise efficiency while maintaining the personal touch that students value.
Transparency is a key factor to consider, adds Maiocchi. Students should always be informed when they are interacting with an AI chatbot, ensuring that they know when to expect automated responses and when to seek more personalised assistance.
“Recruitment offices can restructure to maximise efficiency by utilising AI for routine tasks but should always ensure that human staff are available to offer the necessary depth and personalised touch that prospective students often seek,” she advises.
“Ensuring a human presence, especially in the later stages of the recruitment process, is crucial for building trust and fostering a positive experience.”
However, AI chatbots can often provide good advice when steered correctly, says Abdelmounaim Derraz, Executive Director of the ESSEC Metalab at ESSEC Business School in France. Students are realising this and are already interacting with AI tools for their study choices, he says. This will only become more generalised.
Derraz says that an academic institution’s role will be to curate or build the right AI agents that are both academically verified and tailored to the needs of its students. He agrees it should be clear when the AI agents are involved and when humans take the lead.
“Schools will need to leverage their academic footprint, history and culture and blend it with AI tools to deliver more competitive advantages to their students, as international competition over the best candidates is heating up,” he says. “This will come both from the best human and AI student experience.”
AI as the front-line service
When faced with the prospect of a long wait from an admissions team, applicants may prefer to get their queries dealt with immediately using AI-enhanced systems, suggests Amir Michael, Head of the Accounting Department and Professor of Accounting at the UK’s Durham University Business School.
“This is a possible option where AI acts as a first layer of service to deal with queries and then more complex cases can be escalated to an admission team member,” says Michael. “In this case, AI will be acting as a front-line service filter for queries, where only cases with some level of complexity will be dealt with by a human member of the team.”
Using AI as a front-line service, he states, will improve efficiency and provide better utilisation of technology as well as human time. “It is a digitalisation of the Q&A in order to deal with the volume of questions and queries in a timely manner.”
He imagines that in the future, AI may also act as a marketing tool, similar to using AI-powered search engines and social media adverts. This tool can be advanced to include universities, courses or programmes.
Another way AI might soon be used is to generate predictive models that can forecast the types of questions applicants ask, providing reasonable answers to them. An advanced AI model could deal independently with some of these queries with the flexibility to adjust the algorithmic model depending on the type, theme and patterns of data.
“This will improve candidates’ satisfaction and enhance conversion rates, even though they know that a machine is responding to their queries,” states Michael.
Sorting through masses of content
When it comes to researching a school, a chatbot can complement traditional methods, helping students more easily find the information and resources they need to make an informed decision, explains Julien Manteau, Associate Dean for Communication, Marketing and Development at NEOMA Business School in France.
Despite a chatbot’s abilities, it cannot replace an active approach on the part of the student.
AI chatbots can be a useful tool for students who are overwhelmed with the plethora of university or business school content available on their websites, brochures, social media and YouTube channels. However, universities’ chatbots are not the only AI tool used by students when researching different institutions.
Many students supplement their research by consulting ChatGPT, as it allows them to easily compare different schools, Manteau reveals. While this might be useful initially for narrowing down options, when it comes to deciding between two institutions, students still usually need human interaction to be able to envision themselves at a school.
“While interaction with a chatbot is an opportunity for dialogue, it does not really meet this need for human interaction, especially since AI (at least for now) is trained to emphasise the importance of forming a personal opinion by consulting ‘real people,’” explains Manteau.
An AI chatbot can supplement this interaction by helping students find the necessary testimonials and resources, as well as guiding them through the application steps.
“For example, students particularly appreciate videos, which allow them to better envision and qualitatively understand the personalities of various schools. A chatbot can help identify which videos to watch,” he says.
Chatbots can also provide valuable insights into candidate trends and preferences, enabling more targeted recruitment strategies, adds NEOMA’s Alain Goudey, Associate Dean for Digital.
“This technology will create increased efficiency with customised answers and reduced response times, which should improve candidates' satisfaction,” says Goudey. “However, this technological shift necessitates adaptation and training for recruitment staff, as well as the integration of the tech with existing CRM and IT systems."
Goudey stresses the need for this data to be treated with conscientiousness and respect GDPR, which requires users are made aware of and consent to the ‘who, what, when and why’ of collecting their data, and the AI Act, which stresses transparency in the use of AI.
Drawbacks that outweigh the benefits
Contrastingly, some higher education institutions have made a conscious decision to avoid AI chatbots. When it comes to using AI in student recruitment, Nyenrode Business University in the Netherlands believes there are currently more possible drawbacks than there are benefits.
One of the major concerns the school has is the risk of errors and inaccuracy, particularly if the AI chatbots are not carefully and punctiliously programmed and regularly updated.
“It’s important to provide precise and accurate information, so prospective students can make clear decisions about their future education,” says Anne-Marie Houten, Team Lead Programme Advisor for the Accountancy, Controlling Tax & Management Degree Programmes at Nyenrode Business University.
Another concern is the time and effort required to load and maintain a chatbot with the necessary information. Developing a chatbot that can accurately and effectively address the wide range of questions and concerns that prospective students may have is a substantial undertaking – one that involves extensive data input, continuous monitoring and regular updates to ensure the information remains up to date and relevant.
For a business school like Nyenrode, which offers an extensive set of programmes, this task can be quite intensive. Each academic programme has its own unique set of information, requirements and nuances that a generic chatbot might not handle well, explains Houten.
“Creating specialised chatbots for each programme would involve a significant investment of time and resources, which is not feasible for us at this moment,” she says. “Lastly, since we are a private university and always stand for a personal approach and attention, we do not believe that using AI chatbots for recruitment aligns with the image we strive to project or support.”
The business school is not writing off AI chatbots completely, however.
Houten reveals that Nyenrode may eventually use AI chatbots for specific scenarios, such as fairs and events, where the focus is on one programme. “A chatbot could serve as a pilot or test case to handle short inquiries and provide basic information efficiently,” she says.
This controlled setting will enable Nyenrode to assess the chatbot's effectiveness and gather insights without compromising the overall quality of its recruitment efforts.
Researching AI chatbots
Similarly, the University of Sussex Business School is yet to implement AI chatbots in its recruitment strategy. However, the school is exploring how the technology can help alleviate pressures associated with the large volumes of applications at certain times in the recruitment process.
“I see chatbots playing a role in answering questions from potential applicants regardless of the time zone, and, for example, during clearing,” says Farai Jena, Associate Dean and Professor of Economics.
Despite understanding their advantages, the issue is not a key focus currently. The UK school is instead using AI to enhance its teaching, learning, assessments and access to academic support resources.
“We have a number of school-led initiatives in place to pilot AI initiatives. We’re in the process of engaging with and training faculty to be more conversant with AI tools and capabilities,” she says.
Imperial College Business School is also currently investigating the best AI tools to improve the student recruitment experience. Instead of AI chatbots, the UK school is looking to develop a tool that will help to match participants to the best programmes for their learning needs and goals.
“This will include the use of predictive analytics to identify which candidates will be more likely to be accepted to which programme,” explains José Rosario, Director of Business Development for Open Programmes. “It would provide the additional layer of assurance for learners that they are enrolled on the best programme possible for their current learning and networking needs.”
The AI payoff
It’s no longer a question of whether AI will impact student recruitment, but how. Currently, the schools that have implemented AI chatbots appear not to be replacing admissions staff, but instead are using the technology to automate routine questions and free up human time. This enables recruitment offices to focus on more complex queries, offering more support and in-depth responses, improving the overall applicant experience.
However, from our conversations, students’ preferences appear to lean away from AI chatbots, despite the significantly faster response time.
It is now up to schools to decide how to navigate this payoff, to give potential students the best possible experience when deciding where to study.