As I have shared on many occasions, including during my two recent WGN Radio appearances, AI (Artificial Intelligence) is changing the world.
It is also stressing out many technical recruitment teams. This is the case because many companies worldwide are facing growing shortages of AI experts. These increased job vacancies have led to both: 1) longer recruiting times to fill open positions and 2) decreased company profits and productivity resulting from not having the necessary technology talent to complete key Artificial Intelligence projects. As a result, many hiring managers have encountered sleepless nights trying to discover creative ways to fill their technology requirements.
Creative Artificial Intelligence Recruiting Solutions In the Auto Industry
Many technical staffing teams in the auto industry have reported an increasing war for talent for skilled software engineers especially those with AI backgrounds. In order to secure such technical talent, executives at Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Tesla are all taking a proactive approach. This comprises formulating many creative recruitment strategies including building stronger relationships with universities, opening offices in the Silicon Valley and buying startup companies involved in AI. All approaches are geared at recruiting the best technical talent for their companies. For example, Ford spent $182,000,000 last month for a stake in San Francisco’s Pivotal Software Inc. in order to recruit more software and AI talent without adding a lot more internal technology jobs or employees.
Many New Applications For Artificial Intelligence Including Film Making
AI is now being used to create films. Filmmaker Oscar Sharp and technologist Ross Goodwin have been collaborating for a few years to explore the boundaries of AI. Their most recent effort is the short science fiction film “Sunspring,” where the screenplay is written entirely by a computer they names Jetson (That name has since changed).
Sharp and Goodwin tested their machine’s capabilities for The Sci-Fi London 48 Hour Film Challenge back in April. The resulting 8-minute film, starring Thomas Middleditch who is the star of the HBO series Silicon Valley, is available on YouTube.
The software they developed is a language engine that essentially crunches all the input Sharp and Goodwin provide. Sometimes the resulting dialogue sounds like a random series of unrelated sentences, which pressures the actors Middleditch, Elisabeth Gray and Humphrey Ker to mold the AI offerings into conventional dialogue.
More STEM Education Needed To Meet The Future AI Talent Supply
As I shared previously, to meet the growing needs of AI applications, we as a nation need to mint more students capable of entering and excelling in the artificial intelligence field. Unfortunately, my technical recruiters and many other technical recruitment teams in the U.S. that we have polled have been repeatedly trumpeting the need for improved STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education by grammar and high schools.
Without significant improvements in STEM education, our nation’s technical recruiters will not be able to supply enough AI technology talent to their growing industries. As a result, our country will fall behind in the artificial intelligence race.
In Summary
AI is changing the world. Many industries, including the auto industry, have reported shortages for key AI talent. This has led to many creative recruiting strategies to secure needed technical talent. However, there are only a finite number of good candidates for the artificial intelligence field. Therefore, U.S. educational systems need to be energized especially with respect to STEM training in order to mint many more qualified AI professionals to meet the growing demand of technology jobs in the field.
