We’ve all, at some point or another, found ourselves lost for words at a job interview.
When the nerves strike, things start to get a little more uncomfortable or a little more stressful – and we can sometimes find ourselves wishing that the interviewer wasn’t there at all.
But that has never been more true than when marketer Jack Ryan was interviewed for a new role at an Australian AI startup called Fairgo.
On his remote interview, Ryan was shocked to discover that his interviewer wasn’t an employee of the company or a recruiter – instead, he was being interviewed by an AI avatar.
In a situation that the introverts among us might love, Ryan was horrified that he was not able to communicate with another human being and connect through natural, human body language and facial expressions.
Though Ryan notes the attempts at equity in Fairgo’s interview systems, he noted his shock and significant concerns in an interview with 404 Media:
“While Fairgo’s intent is to provide a fair and equitable interview process, I can’t imagine AI and other tools are able to interpret the human emotion and facial reactions to provide an actual, well-rounded interview.
As someone who has interviewed upwards of 50 candidates for prior roles, human connection and interaction is the single most important indicator of how a team will mesh and jive together. If an AI is running the early stage process, it eliminates potential candidates because of its algorithmic design.”
While Fairgo suggest that being interviewed by AI avatars is an enjoyable and fair experience, reducing the natural bias that a human interviewer brings to proceedings, it is, without a doubt, an unusual experience.
And who wouldn’t be taken aback when you’ve prepared for an interview with a human, but are presented with an automated interviewer instead?
More than just bemused by the experience, Ryan found himself concerned for himself and others with disabilities or other factors that might be covered under a corporation’s diversity, equality, and inclusion policies.
As well, he worried about the the human cost of outsourcing once human roles to AI:
“As a disabled individual who is reliant on remote work, I am already concerned about openly stating I am disabled in the forms that companies put at the end of their job applications. To add an AI component into this mix, I imagine, would have the opposite [negative] effect.
Executives and corporations are further trying to cut costs on the human side of business. As someone who has seen these layoffs at numerous top tech companies that then go on to rehire 6-12-18 months later… it’s laughable at best and terrifying at worst.”
While it’s unlikely that this kind of technology will be rolled out across the board any time soon, Ryan’s interview with an AI avatar shows just how impersonal the job hunting-process has become.
If you enjoyed that story, check out what happened when a guy gave ChatGPT $100 to make as money as possible, and it turned out exactly how you would expect.