Artificial intelligence (AI) has rewritten the recruitment playbook. Businesses have been eager to embrace the technology to find better workers in less time with less bias, but it hasn’t always worked out that way. As promising as AI in recruiting looks, applicants typically are not excited about it.
As of 2022, 65 percent of recruiting professionals had already started using AI in hiring to some extent. Predictably, job applicants have adapted their own approach as the trend has continued. Companies hoping to make the most of this technology should pay attention to these changes.
Discomfort and stress
On a general level, job-seekers have grown uncomfortable about the prospect of AI in recruiting. In an interview with the Guardian, one applicant called their experience with an AI interviewer “creepy” and mentioned the bot repeatedly interrupted them. Another interviewee described feeling self-conscious with no one else in the video chat, and this distraction and lack of feedback limited her performance.
While AI-conducted interviews have become more common, they’re not established enough yet for most candidates to feel comfortable about them. Stories like those in the Guardian piece cast doubt over whether they will ever be a suitable replacement for person-to-person contact.
The lack of a human presence takes a toll on interviewees. As negative emotions like these become more common amid rising AI adoption, they’re leading to other behaviors employers would rather avoid.
Application avoidance
In many cases, discomfort and stress around recruitment AI stops candidates from applying at all. A Pew Research Center survey found that 66 percent of U.S. adults would not want to apply for a job where AI plays a role in hiring decisions.
This avoidance stems from several underlying beliefs about AI. In the same study, 47 percent of respondents said AI could do better at treating applicants equally, yet just 27 percent think it’d be better at identifying qualified workers. A paltry 17 percent believe AI could see potential in job-seekers who don’t perfectly fit the qualifications — something an interview should account for.
Poorer company perceptions
Similarly, many applicants today feel less positively about a company after interacting with AI during the interview process. Experts point out that AI job interviews can lead to a ghosting effect where even successful interviewees do not hear back from the employer. Losing such feedback, even if only during the interview, leads to a loss of confidence and a sense of frustration.
These feelings harm the organization’s image in the eyes of job-seekers. Ghosted applicants won’t likely reach out to the business or apply for a similar position. They may discourage others from doing so to save them from the same emotions of isolation and powerlessness.
AI adoption on the applicant’s side
As AI has become more accessible, a rising portion of disillusioned job applicants are starting to embrace it themselves. In many cases, that means having generative tools create or refine their resumes or cover letters.
This trend has appeared in education, too, not just with job-seekers. Students are discouraged by how 90 percent of applicants to top schools with perfect SAT scores and 4.0 GPAs still don’t get in and may turn to AI for better essays. While generative AI is imperfect, prospective students and job-seekers may feel they might as well use it if the other side of the interview will use it, too.
Other candidates are going even further. A popular AI teleprompter app listens to interview questions and suggests better answers to job-seekers. On one hand, it could help talented but nervous candidates perform better. However, it also means the interview does not reveal much about the applicant, as a robot answers all the questions.
How businesses can respond
In light of these trends, companies bullish on AI may want to rethink their use of the technology in recruitment. While it can save time and theoretically highlight ideal candidates, it often turns people away and promotes dishonesty more than it helps.
Transparency is key. Despite widespread discomfort with AI hiring tools, the Pew survey revealed people do not write the concept off entirely. Many think it could improve some aspects of the recruitment process, as long as it does not make final hiring decisions. Consequently, organizations should be open about how they use AI, including a promise only to utilize it as a tool, not a final decision-maker.
Maintaining the human connection is also crucial. Social isolation has increased while engagement has fallen over the past few years, making facilitating cooperation and camaraderie more pressing than ever. Missing the human element also appears to be the leading cause of discomfort for applicants in AI-led interviews.
Instead of automating interviews, businesses can use AI to highlight promising resumes or analyze candidates during a human-led interview. At least one person should be present for all conversations.
Businesses must use AI in recruiting carefully
AI is a powerful tool but can have unintended consequences. As companies have rushed to use it in hiring, its impact on job-seekers has been more negative than positive. Organizations must fight against this trend to have genuine interviews and not turn applicants away. That may mean a less disruptive approach to AI, but the results will be worth it.
Zac Amos is the Features Editor at ReHack, where he covers business tech, HR, and cybersecurity. He is also a regular contributor at AllBusiness, TalentCulture, and VentureBeat. For more of his work, follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn.
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