You can almost hear the howls of frustration from HR departments. Jobseekers have discovered artificial intelligence and they’re not afraid to use it. Employers have become snowed under by people using the new tools to churn out impersonal applications. Some applicants are using AI to bluff their way through online assessments, too. The FT has reported that many large employers have a “zero-tolerance attitude towards the use of AI”. 

I’m sure that would be news to job applicants, who have had to put up with the use of AI by large employers for years. Indeed, jobseekers would be well within their rights to say: but you started it.

Like many cautionary tales, this one begins with good intentions. In the 2010s, employers implemented new automated recruitment tools to whittle down candidates before the interviews because they wanted to make the process more efficient and more fair, with less risk of human bias.