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How to Use AI Responsibly When Hiring

Your questions, answered.

Written by
Mary Noble-Tolla
Last updated
This is for
Allies & PartnersWomen in the WorkplaceManagers & Employers

Dear Lean In,

I manage a team at a large company, and I’m concerned about how AI is being used to screen résumés. I’ve read that these tools can reinforce bias—and I worry we may be filtering out strong candidates without realizing it. How can I make sure we’re using AI responsibly in hiring?

—Anxious About Applicants

Dear Anxious,

You’re right to be thoughtful about this—you’re bringing the kind of scrutiny that leads to better decisions.

AI is a powerful hiring tool, but in its current form, it comes with real risks for women. Research shows that AI tools systematically rate men as a better “fit,” even when the AI was programmed to ignore gender. In a 2024 study, AI résumé screeners flagged men as strong fits in 52% of roles, compared to just 11% for women.

Here’s what you can do as a manager to help mitigate the risk:

  1. Surface the problem to leadership. Share the data directly: as the 2024 study showed, AI screeners tend to move men forward far more often than equally qualified women, even when designed to be gender-neutral.
  2. Advocate for human oversight. Recommend human review of rejected résumés or spot-checking candidates the AI screens out, especially for high-impact roles.
  3. Flag higher-risk roles. Call for extra scrutiny in male-dominated fields (e.g., tech, leadership) and female-dominated ones (e.g., admin/support), where bias can be amplified.
  4. Tie your case to the bottom line. Advocating for fairness can be challenging, so connect these steps to outcomes leaders care about. Decades of research show that teams with similar numbers of women and men are notably more innovative—and that can translate into higher profit and business performance.

Good luck and warm wishes,

— Dr. Mary Noble-Tolla, Director of Research and Content, LeanIn.Org