The rise of the AI interviewer

AI can be a game-changer. AI can summarize information, co-author documents, generate ideas, or create a product prototype. More recently, we've seen increasing examples of AI being used to replace the "human touch," such as taking drive-thru orders—which was abandoned after failing to interpret orders correctly.

The most recent example of inserting an AI to replace the "human connection" is AI interviewers. Tell me your company doesn't care about people without saying your company doesn't care about people.

AI chatbots as interviewer

The NBC News article highlights several instances where applicants were surprised (and dismayed) to find they were being interviewed by an AI chat bot. A few examples:

• One person applied for a marketing specialist position, and was offered a screening interview the next day. The interviewer was an AI chat bot. "It felt really dystopian. I feel like anytime I'm interacting with AI, I'm always still shocked."

• Another person applied to a fitness company, but reported a glitch in the AI chat bot. After two questions, the bot started repeating "vertical bar Pilates," stuttering, and "laughing" until the AI hung up.

There are some good reasons to use AI during the hiring process, and the NBC News article highlights a few of them. But experience is showing that AI hasn't reached the level of maturity to replace the "human touch" with job candidates or customer experience. I know that the market isn't great right now, and the job market is in favor of the employer, but inserting AI into the "human connection" is not helping.

Model the right culture

If you want to model a healthy and respectful culture to potential employees, I recommend at least these three practices:

• Let humans interview humans, not AI.
• Share salary ranges with the job posting.
• Communicate, don't ghost candidates.