LinkedIn on Wednesday unveiled an artificial intelligence-based chatbot that it bills as a "coach for job seekers" and revealed other generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools for premium users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The launch coincided with LinkedIn announcing that the platform had surpassed 1 billion members. The Microsoft-owned company has been ramping up its focus for months on tools like automated messages for \u201crecruiters,\u201d job descriptions, and AI-powered profile suggestions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new AI chatbot, which among other things aims to help users assess whether a job application is worth their time, is powered by OpenAI GPT-4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Erran Berger, LinkedIn\u2019s vice president of product engineering, says that LinkedIn\u2019s engineering team had to invest a lot of resources into the platform to reduce latency. \u201cWe had to build a lot of things on our end to make this experience fast,\u201d Berger said. \u201cWhen you have these conversational experiences, sometimes it feels like it\u2019s a search \u2014 you expect it to be instant. And so we had to build the right platform capabilities to enable that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Linkedin is trying to re-accelerate revenue growth after eight consecutive quarters of slowing growth. Two weeks ago, the company announced nearly 700 layoffs, most of them from the engineering department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Users can launch the new chatbot from a job posting by selecting one of several questions listed, such as \u201cAm I a good candidate for this job?\u201d or \u201cHow can I best position myself for this job?\u201d The first choice would trigger an analysis of the user\u2019s LinkedIn profile and experience, offering answers such as: \u201cYour profile indicates that you have extensive experience in marketing and event planning, which is relevant to this role.\u201d The chatbot will also show the user any gaps in experience that could hurt them in the job application process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The user can then proceed to ask who works at the company, which will trigger the chatbot to send over some employee profiles \u2013 perhaps second or third-degree connections \u2013 which the user can then contact. The message itself can also be created by the user using generative AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the past, the use of AI in recruitment or job applications has often been criticized for being biased. At Linkedin, they have pledged that their artificial intelligence will follow all established protocols for an equal experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n