Job seekers may find themselves talking to AI

Job seekers already have to worry about ghost jobs, but a new oddity is on the rise: AI interviewers.

Graphic designer Paloma Canseco posted to LinkedIn about a recent phone interview with a “virtual recruiter.”

It asked several questions in a natural-sounding voice, even responding to her answers, before she hung up, not wanting to work for a company that would use AI to screen candidates.

So that’s a thing now?

It’s been a thing. Several companies already use AI recruitment software, including Chipotle, which calls its recruiter “Ava Cado,” per CNBC.

But where and how they’re using AI in the recruitment process varies. Some companies only use bots to schedule interviews, collect info, or answer prospective applicants’ questions, while others are using AI to conduct interviews in real time.

There may be some benefits:

• Apriora claims its AI interviewer speeds up the hiring process and gives recruiters more time with the right candidates.
• Candidates who might have been dismissed by a human based on cover letters or CVs may succeed in AI screenings.
• AI could be more impartial than humans, who may rely on gut feelings or personal biases.

But it’s important to remember…

… that AI can still contain bias depending on its training data.

HireVue launched an AI assessment service in 2014 that analyzed job seekers’ expressions, including perceived enthusiasm, and speech to generate an employability score, which some experts worry could negatively impact non-native English speakers or nervous applicants.

In 2018, Amazon stopped using an AI hiring tool because it preferred men due to training data that featured a majority of male employees.

Still, one expert told CNBC that AI recruiters will rapidly become the new norm — meaning candidates like Canseco may soon not have the option to just hang up.