A systematic literature review on artificial intelligence in recruiting and selection: a matter of ethics

Purpose Starting from the relevance of ethics to the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the context of employee recruitment and selection (R&S), in this article, we aim to provide a comprehensive review of the literature in light of the main ethical theories (utilitarian theories, theories of justice, and theories of rights) to identify a future research agenda and practical implications. Design/methodology/approach On the basis of the best-quality and most influential journals, we conducted a systematic review of 120 articles from two databases (Web of Science and Scopus) to provide descriptive results and adopt a framework for deductive classification of the main topics. Findings Inspired by the three ethical theories, we identified three thematic lines of enquiry for the debate on AI in R&S: (1) the utilitarian view: the efficient optimisation of R&S through AI; (2) the justice view: the perceptions of justice and fairness related to AI techniques; and (3) the rights view: the respect for legal and human rights requirements when AI is applied. Originality/value This article provides a detailed assessment of the adoption of AI in the R&S process from the standpoint of traditional ethics theories and offers an integrative theoretical framework for future research on AI in the broader field of HRM.