Robot interviews proven to measure personality traits without human interference

Now it’s scientifically proven. The social AI-interview robot Tengai can, without human interference, conduct and measure standardized and objective blind interviews. The conversational technology can assess personality traits correlated to work performance, all according to a new research validity study conducted by Dr. Anders Sjöberg and Dr. Sofia Sjöberg of Psychometrics Sweden AB.

The result of the world unique study now allows companies to incorporate a disruptive HR-tech tool in their recruitment process, that will mitigate unconscious bias from the job interview while assessing and measure personality traits linked to work performance. This will create a more unbiased and fairer candidate experience and enable hiring managers and HR to perform more data-driven and compliant hiring decisions.

The unique physical design of Tengai will also decrease discrimination during the job interview since the robot doesn’t care about the jobseeker’s age, gender, appearance, background, or dialect.

The study
The validation study was conducted on behalf of Tengai AB but was executed independently by renowned Psychometrics Sweden. This is the first time a research study is conducted on a physical robot’s performance (or chatbot), in a dialogue format, to validate the connection between candidates’ answers and personality traits correlated to work performance. The traits in the study, have previously been scientifically proven by psychometrics professionals worldwide, as they correlate to work performance.

The research results can be found in the Swedish language report: ”Tengai och Personlighet. En konvergerande och diskriminerande valideringsstudie av extraversion och samvetsgrannhet”. (An English version will be released in a few days and found on Tengai-unbiased.com.) 

“The validity study confirms that Tengai can ask questions that correlate to work performance and interpret the answers independently, without any help from humans. This means that Tengai is validated and should be used to achieve a more unbiased interview process. It is a first step towards replacing the traditional job interview with an unbiased robot interview with Tengai.” – Dr. Anders Sjöberg, Psychometrics Sweden AB.

Tengai AB’s CEO Elin Öberg Mårtenzon:
“Early on we knew that we were on to something unique and the results of the validity study prove that we were right. The findings from the study aren’t just groundbreaking for the industry, but also important for the whole labor market. With our validated robot interviews, we can now measure and assess personality traits correlated to work performance while treating job seekers more equally and fairly. We are creating history by proving how new technology can bring recruitment to the next level”.

Robot interviews increase the candidate experience 
The results also show how Tengai’s physical shape, scientific interview methodology and work-related interview questions increase the result. These factors have contributed to the candidate experience, where the candidates believe the robot interview is more serious (84,6%*) than a traditional job interview, and feel that they can give more honest answers (74,2%*).  

Today, interview robot Tengai is actively being used by Swedish recruitment and staffing agency TNG, who initially was involved in the development of the robot. Now organizations like trade union Vision, municipalities Upplands-Bro, Linköping and Vänersborg, and various companies in the FMCG (Cloetta) and financial sector (DnB) have used Tengai in TNG’s unbiased recruitment and staffing offers.

During Q2, 2020, Tengai AB will launch Tengai Stand Alone and make it possible for companies to lease their own robot and implement the blind interviews, measure candidates’ general work performance (TPI-score Tengai Performance Indicator), and get data-driven candidate scoring to help hiring managers and recruiters to make better hiring decisions.

* Based on anonymous results in follow up surveys with candidates. Based on 420 conducted robot interviews.