weakestlink

← All courses

Nano-lesson · usually takes 2–3 minutes

When AI assesses people

Applicants, employees, citizens — that's where the strictest rules apply. Know the difference.

Not all AI is the same

Letting an AI fix spelling mistakes in a text is one thing. Letting it screen applicants, assess an employee's performance or decide who should receive a benefit is something else entirely. The law calls that kind of thing high-risk. The requirements for those tools are strict, and they must be met before the tool is put into use — not afterwards.

Examples where the alarm should sound

  • A tool that ranks job applicants or filters them out automatically.
  • Something that measures or judges employees — picks per hour, driving data, customer ratings — and is used for promotion or dismissal.
  • Systems that decide access to credit, insurance, education or public benefits.

And watch out for the skewed pattern

An AI has learned from reality. If reality was skewed, it learns the skew along with it — and reproduces it in neat, matter-of-fact language where it's hard to spot. A quick check: swap out the name, the age or the place of residence in what you're looking at. If the recommendation suddenly looks different, it's worth mentioning. You don't need to be able to prove a bias statistically — you just need to notice it and say so.

What you should do

You don't need to know the rules by heart. You need to be able to recognise the situation and say it out loud before the tool is put into use: "This assesses people — has it been checked?" That question is your whole role, and it's cheap insurance.

Remember

If the tool assesses people, ask — before it's used, not after.

Question 1 of 3

Which of these is a high-risk use of AI?

Question 2 of 3

Your department wants to use a new AI tool to select candidates. What is your most important task?

Question 3 of 3

You notice that a tool consistently rates one group lower. You can't prove it statistically. What do you do?

Well done!

You've completed one of the foundation courses — the ones everyone gets for free.

With a free login:

  • Your points, progress and course certificate are saved.
  • You get courses tailored to your role — not just the foundation courses.
  • We send training exactly when you need it — for example, as a follow-up to a phishing test.