New Software Can Hire, Evaluate, and Pay Workers, Making Human Bosses Obsolete

Anyone looking for work these days knows how hard it is to get your resume into the hands of a human. Fortunately, perhaps, it may soon be possible to get hired without that step.

Freelancer.com, an Australian jobs site, is using software algorithms that allow computers to automatically recruit, hire and pay workers to do a wide range of tasks, New Scientist reports.

“Software can now simply post a job and hire one, three, or 500 humans; software can now literally assemble an army overnight to solve complex problems,” says Matt Barrie, Freelancer.com’s CEO, in a press release.

The site is a clearinghouse for freelance software engineers, writers, Web developers, architects, and others to search for work that companies have outsourced. But now, using a new API, employers can write code that automatically posts job ads, recruits workers, and evaluates their work.

The company offers an example of an online “store,” stocked with virtual content generated with the API. The software could recruit people to create and sell more products, and assess who did the best job. Those people would automatically get more work; no need for human input about their performance. As long as the store makes money, and there are freelancers creating content, the machine-led store could continue in perpetuity.

“Whether or not the singularity will eventuate, man and machine became closer with the launch of the FreelancerAPI,” reads Freelancer.com’s Skynet-happy press release.

The software could even be written to improve itself, by recruiting developers that would improve is own code.

“For the last 60 years, humans have controlled software — now we’re getting to the stage where software can control humans,” Barrie tells NS.

So next time you start complaining that your boss is a robot, just be glad that he or she at least has a pulse.