Government contractor Capita is now reportedly using artificial intelligence (AI) to speed up the military recruitment process for the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Capita reportedly uses AI to analyze and summarize medical records submitted with applications to determine if an applicant is qualified to join. Sources indicate using AI is meant to expedite a sometimes drawn-out procedure.
Specifically, AI is utilized after a general practitioner (GP) scans or uploads documents to a secure system. Afterward, the AI technology turns the data into searchable records, enabling recruiters to analyze emails, electronic documents, voice messages, and handwritten notes in one format.
Previously, as part of the hiring process, GPs had to provide 40,000 of these medical records annually for manual assessment by recruiting staff. Recruiters often analyze every application 50-100 pages of health records, and the manual evaluation process takes at least an hour per applicant.
A defense source claims that since the company started utilizing AI in the summer of last year, the time it takes to complete medical assessments has drastically decreased. The technology has been credited with processing more applications in recent months. According to a Capita source, the modifications and other modernizations have resulted in a 25% decrease in overall application times since 2016.
Capita's Ministry of Defence Contract
This is part of Capita's contract extension with the Ministry of Defence, which is expected to end this year. A partnership that has been fairly criticized for its less-than-favorable results.
In 2019, reports indicate that senior members of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) blasted Capita and the Army for persistent issues with IT systems that are essential to the operation of the Recruiting Partnership Project, calling the contract "abysmal."
Capita has since then transformed its recruitment process, more evidently by this recent use of artificial intelligence to speed up its recruitment process.
Capita maintained, however, that face-to-face interaction and engagement with serving soldiers will always be essential components of the Army recruitment process. Still, AI technology has indeed made some steps of the process faster, easier, and more efficient.
UK Military Staff Crisis
The company further adds that they are using AI technologies to speed up the hiring process, get more individuals into basic training more quickly, and assist in keeping prospects from quitting.
Capita AI-assisted recruitment also comes amidst the decreasing number of military personnel. As per reports, since the Falklands War, active service troops have decreased by 60%, leaving the Army, Navy, and Air Force with just 134,000 fully trained men.
At a recent conference, General Sir Patrick Sanders, the retiring chief of the British Army, issued a warning, stating that should Britain need to go on the offensive, its reserve forces would not be adequate.
At a recent gathering in London, US Navy Secretary Carlos del Toro stated that further funding for the Royal Navy was "significantly important."
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