Jumping the gun

Balochistan has announced that it will use an artificial intelligence-based recruitment system for future government employment. A dedicated unit will manage the system, which the provincial government says will make hiring transparent and merit-based.

The principle behind the plan enjoys broad support. Public employment should not depend on political pressure, opaque decisions or unnecessary delays. Yet the promise of technology alone does not resolve the deeper weaknesses in the administrative structure through which recruitment decisions must ultimately pass.

Across several sectors, especially finance, technology has begun replacing manual and cash-based processes. Digital payments, automated government systems, AI- and data-driven tax administration, online public services and modern financial infrastructure all seek to make governance more transparent and efficient.

The wider administrative system, however, remains largely tied to paper files, handwritten approvals and the physical transfer of documents between offices. Records remain fragmented, workflows move slowly, and routine processes still depend heavily on procedures designed decades ago. In this setting, AI-based recruitment risks becoming an isolated technological intervention: a digitised entrance to a bureaucratic structure that remains largely unchanged, outdated and driven by the status quo. The article therefore cautions that the proposed system needs careful consideration rather than being treated as a standalone solution.