Increased use of artificial intelligence in the hiring process is frightening business leaders who contend it may cause the companies to hire people who may not be able to actually do the job.
James Robinson, who heads up Cardiff-based ad agency Hello Starling, has encountered more resume and cover letter applications generated with AI. Employers have experienced it themselves too, with the likes of Robinson encountering people who use generative AI bots to craft resumes and cover letters. Robinson warns such people with AI familiarity will manipulate the recruitment system without even holding the necessary skills for the position.
The Job Application Trend with AI
The latest UK census conducted on more than 2,000 job applicants revealed that nearly half the applicants had utilized AI in the applications. It made it even more difficult for the recruiters to distinguish between authentic applications and the ones created mostly with the help of AI.
Robinson found the majority of the applications had multiple examples such as:
Using my skill sets
“My credentials meet the goals and aspirations of your business.” As when Robinson tested these sentences in ChatGPT, the AI reaffirmed theses to be standard generated responses. “It’s getting increasingly hard to tell who’s real and who’s not real and who’s just a robot with AI,” Robinson admitted. After posting on LinkedIn about his experience, he was surprised to find out that many business leaders were facing the same problem. Some even asked if AI should be introduced to find AI-generated apps and therefore the recruitment method would be a competition between rival technology.
Read More: Oraimo: Technology and affordability with innovation
AI: A Tool and Not a Substitute
While AI carries unquestionable benefits, careers advisers note it should complement human endeavour and not replace it. Megan Cooper is a careers adviser with the Cardiff Metropolitan University and calls on students to use AI in an ethical way.
“AI is an excellent asset for the job applicant. It may be able to assist with CV formatting and proofreading letters and clarity but never replace human judgment,” said Cooper. She added that the majority of the students are forced to use AI because employers are assuming they will be conversant with the use of the technology. However, she advises they use it on the proper stages—like research and self-editing—and not actually develop applications.
The Students’ Perspective
The students have mixed feelings regarding the application of AI in studying and working conditions.
Jasmine James, 18, avoids the use of AI in university assignments due to plagiarism and incorrect information concerns. 19-year-old Jacob Morgan believes AI is better than traditional search engines and regularly uses it for research. Computing student Timothy Mitchell sees not taking any use of AI into account as an omission. “Everyone’s using it—tutors, employers. If people aren’t using AI, they’re short-changing themselves.” Mitchell sees dependency problems with AI but believes human imagination remains the superior asset. “AI will be able to do something with the material it’s learned,” said Mitchell. “Human beings create the new ideas.”
The Future of AI in Recruitment
As the AI technology advances further, we can increasingly look to it in the realm of recruitment and hiring. The employers may have to develop newer ways of assessing the candidates apart from the paper resume—such as more interactive interviews and competency-based testing. Where AI introduces efficiency into the equation, recruitment needs to ensure the human touch remains such that the right people are chosen for advancement on merit and not on AI-contrived resumes and covering letters. Where Robinson summarized it perfectly, “AI should help us, not replace us.”
