Gloriously Human

I’ve been having an ongoing argument with a friend about AI’s role in recruiting. Whether you’re a job-seeker or employer, things are getting pretty dire.

If you’re looking for a job, one in five advertised positions are “ghost jobs” – fake, or already filled. The number of ghost jobs are probably much higher on LinkedIn, where recruiters are priming their talent pools and employers are gaming the algorithm.

If you’re looking for an employee, you’re already drowning in AI-generated CVs and cover letters. From the Financial Times:

Candidates are turning increasingly to generative AI — the type used in chatbot products such as ChatGPT and Gemini to produce conversational passages of text — to assist them in writing their CVs, cover letters and completing assessments.

Estimates from employers and recruiters who spoke to the Financial Times, as well as multiple published surveys, have suggested the figure is as high as 50 per cent of applicants.

A “barrage” of AI-powered applications had led to more than double the number of candidates per job while the “barrier to entry is lower”…

What’s the solution to this problem? According to my friend: MORE AI!

• Employers can use better AI tools to identify and weed out the AI slop
• Employers can use AI to test the proficiencies and capabilities of applicants
• Employers can use AI to automate early interviews
• Job-seekers can use AI to improve their CVs
• Job-seekers can use AI to tailor their applications to the job description
• Job-seekers can use AI to receive personalised career guidance and skill development recommendations

It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see how this whole thing just loops in on itself. It’s the enshittification of the job market. Employers get better at identifying AI, job-seekers get better at hiding it. Employers get better at funnelling applicants with AI, job-seekers get better at staying on the list. Round and round it goes… until?

Well, until someone pulls the plug on AI recruitment entirely. Like Anthropic, one of the world’s leading AI companies, does:

AI Policy for Application: While we encourage people to use AI systems during their role to help them work faster and more effectively, please do not use AI assistants during the application process. We want to understand your personal interest in Anthropic without mediation through an AI system, and we also want to evaluate your non-AI-assisted communication skills. Please indicate ‘Yes’ if you have read and agree.

We’re in the “storming” phase of AI. We haven’t figured out how it fits into our lives yet. There are no guarantees LLMs will take over every aspect of our lives, nor that they will replace people’s jobs. The more I use AI tools in my day-to-day work, the more I appreciate real contact with real people.

The next big trend to land in our adscapes will be imperfectly, strangely, gloriously human.