Latest news with #AIRecruitment
Khaleej Times
08-07-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Welcome to your job interview. Your interviewer is AI
When Jennifer Dunn, 54, landed an interview last month through a recruiting firm for a vice president of marketing job, she looked forward to talking to someone about the role and learning more about the potential employer. Instead, a virtual artificial intelligence recruiter named Alex sent her a text message to schedule the interview. And when Dunn got on the phone at the appointed time for the meeting, Alex was waiting to talk to her. 'Are you a human?' Dunn asked. 'No, I'm not a human,' Alex replied. 'But I'm here to make the interview process smoother.' For the next 20 minutes, Dunn, a marketing professional in San Antonio, answered Alex's questions about her qualifications — though Alex could not answer most of her questions about the job. Even though Alex had a friendly tone, the conversation 'felt hollow,' Dunn said. In the end, she hung up before finishing the interview. You might have thought AI was coming for your job. First it's coming for your job interviewer. Job seekers across the country are starting to encounter faceless voices and avatars backed by AI in their interviews. These autonomous interviewers are part of a wave of artificial intelligence known as 'agentic AI,' where AI agents are directed to act on their own to generate real-time conversations and build on responses. Some aspects of job searches — such as screening resumes and scheduling meetings — have become increasingly automated over time, but the interview had long seemed to be the part of the process that most needed a human touch. Now AI is encroaching upon even that domain, making the often frustrating and ego-busting task of finding a job even more impersonal. Talking to AI interviewers has 'felt very dehumanising,' said Charles Whitley, 22, a recent computer science and mathematics graduate from Santa Clara University who has had two such conversations in the past seven months. In one interview, for a software engineering job, he said, the AI voice tried to seem more human by adding 'ums' and 'uhs.' It came across as 'some horror-movie-type stuff,' Whitley said. Autonomous AI interviewers started taking off last year, according to job hunters, tech companies and recruiters. The trend has partly been driven by tech startups like Ribbon AI, Talently and Apriora, which have developed robot interviewers to help employers talk to more candidates and reduce the load on human recruiters — especially as AI tools have enabled job seekers to generate resumes and cover letters and apply to tons of openings with a few clicks. AI can personalise a job candidate's interview, said Arsham Ghahramani, the CEO and a co-founder of Ribbon AI. His company's AI interviewer, which has a customizable voice and appears on a video call as moving audio waves, asks questions specific to the role to be filled, and builds on information provided by the job seeker, he said. 'It's really paradoxical, but in a lot of ways, this is a much more humanizing experience because we're asking questions that are really tailored to you,' Ghahramani said. Propel Impact, a nonprofit in Vancouver, British Columbia, that teaches young people about financial investing, began using Ribbon AI's interviewer in January. That allowed the organization to screen 500 applicants for a fellowship program it offers, far more than the 150 applicants who were interviewed by people last year, said Cheralyn Chok, Propel Impact's executive director. 'There's no way we would have been able to successfully recruit and set up offers to 300 people to join our program,' she said. Chok said the AI interviews also saved applicants the hassle of doing multiple interviews with outside financial firms to determine their fellowship placements. Instead, Propel Impact sent the recorded AI interviews to those companies. And there was still a human element, she said, since the organization told applicants that they could ask her team questions at any point. Humans cannot ultimately be taken out of the hiring process, said Sam DeMase, a career expert at ZipRecruiter, an online job board. People still need to make the hiring decisions, she said, because AI may contain bias and cannot be trusted to fully evaluate a candidate's experience, skills and fitness for a job. At the same time, more people should expect AI-run interviews, DeMase said. 'Organisations are trying to become more efficient and trying to scale faster, and as a result, they're looking to AI,' she said. That's bad news for people like Emily Robertson-Yeingst, 57, of Centennial, Colorado. In April, she was interviewed by an AI named Eve for a role as vice president of product marketing at a software company. Robertson-Yeingst was required to keep her camera on during the call, with Eve showing up as a little gray box in a corner of the screen. Eve asked Robertson-Yeingst to talk about herself, and then later asked her to 'tell me about a time you had to build a team from scratch,' among more than half a dozen questions. After almost an hour, Robertson-Yeingst asked Eve about next steps in the hiring process. Eve was unable to answer, she said. In the end, Robertson-Yeingst never heard back — from a human or an AI — about the job, which she later saw posted again on LinkedIn. The entire experience left her feeling 'used,' she said. 'It starts to make you wonder, was I just some sort of experiment?' she said. 'Were you just using me to train the AI agent? Or is there even a job?' Others said they liked talking to AI interviewers. James Gu, 21, a college student majoring in business in Calgary, Alberta, spoke to a robot interviewer for a summer analyst position through Propel Impact in February. Being drilled with questions by someone stresses him out, he said, so part of him was relieved not to speak with a person. During the interview, the AI asked Gu to 'tell me more' about his experience running an entrepreneurship club on campus. He said he had felt freer to 'yap' to the AI. 'It felt like it was interested in learning about me,' said Gu, who landed the job. Dunn has had about nine job interviews over the past two months, she said. Only one was with an AI like Alex, she said, for which she was 'grateful.' Given the choice, she never wants to interview with AI again. 'It isn't something that feels real to me,' she said.
Zawya
08-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Marc Ellis launches MENA's first AI-powered smart recruitment voice agent
Dubai, UAE — Marc Ellis, a UAE-based recruitment and technology consulting company, has introduced the Middle East's first AI-powered Smart voice agent designed to support the hiring process. The new tool is already changing how companies and candidates connect. Built from years of R&D, Marc Ellis's AI recruiter blends the speed of automation with the distinction of human-like interaction calling and the qualification of candidates across industries with unmatched efficiency. Unlike traditional chatbots or standard call automation tools, this smart AI caller has been engineered to understand, probe, and assess talent with precision, giving recruiters more than just data, it delivers insight, results and opportunities. 'We didn't just want to build another AI tool. We wanted to solve one of the industry's most painful challenges: meaningful candidate engagement at scale,' said Aws Ismail, Director at Marc Ellis. 'With this launch, we've done just that- removing bottlenecks, collapsing hiring timelines, and elevating the candidate experience in ways never seen before in this market.' This innovation empowers Marc Ellis consultants to spend less time on administrative qualification and more time building real relationships — ultimately giving clients access to better-qualified, better-aligned talent faster than ever before. Candidates, in turn, are no longer left waiting in the infamous 'CV black hole' — instead, they are engaged, qualified, and guided through the hiring process with speed and clarity. The new system is multilingual and has already been integrated into Marc Ellis's recruitment processes working job roles across different sectors. Early results show the tool can reduce time-to-hire by up to 40%, making it easier for Marc Ellis clients to have the right talent faster. This launch reflects Marc Ellis's ongoing focus on using smart technology to improve recruitment, while keeping people at the center of the process. The company, which has offices in Dubai, Riyadh, Doha, and London, continues to invest in innovative tools that support both clients and candidates in an increasingly competitive job market. About Marc Ellis Marc Ellis is an award-winning recruitment and professional services firm operating across the UAE, KSA, Qatar, and the UK. Renowned for delivering elite talent solutions in technology, outsourcing, and executive search, the company is now leading the charge in recruitment technology innovation.
New York Times
07-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Welcome to Your Job Interview. Your Interviewer Is A.I.
When Jennifer Dunn, 54, landed an interview last month through a recruiting firm for a vice president of marketing job, she looked forward to talking to someone about the role and learning more about the potential employer. Instead, a virtual artificial intelligence recruiter named Alex sent her a text message to schedule the interview. And when Ms. Dunn got on the phone at the appointed time for the meeting, Alex was waiting to talk to her. 'Are you a human?' Ms. Dunn asked. 'No, I'm not a human,' Alex replied. 'But I'm here to make the interview process smoother.' For the next 20 minutes, Ms. Dunn, a marketing professional in San Antonio, answered Alex's questions about her qualifications — though Alex could not answer most of her questions about the job. Even though Alex had a friendly tone, the conversation 'felt hollow,' Ms. Dunn said. In the end, she hung up before finishing the interview. You might have thought artificial intelligence was coming for your job. First it's coming for your job interviewer. Job seekers across the country are starting to encounter faceless voices and avatars backed by A.I. in their interviews. These autonomous interviewers are part of a wave of artificial intelligence known as 'agentic A.I.,' where A.I. agents are directed to act on their own to generate real-time conversations and build on responses. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Daily Mail
23-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Bunnings is slammed for 'dehumanising' move: 'You are treated like a number'
Bunnings has come under fire as it becomes one of several large Australian retailers to use artificial intelligence in its recruitment process. The application process involves a chat and video interview powered by Sapia AI, a tool designed to screen candidates. According to Sapia's website, the technology was 'built on the foundation of making hiring inclusive, efficient and effective'. Bunnings describes the AI interview as comparable to a traditional phone interview with a recruiter, but highlights several benefits. 'You can take all the time you need and edit your answers until you're happy with them,' the company explains in its FAQ for job applicants. 'There are usually five questions, and most people finish in about 30 minutes.' For those who don't have access to the required technology, Bunnings reassures candidates they 'can arrange an alternative format for you to complete the same interview questions'. The retailer emphasises that the AI interview is designed to be fair and impartial, focusing solely on responses to a standardised set of questions. Sapia is used by a number of businesses across Australia, including Woolworths, Qantas, David Jones, Suncorp and Starbucks. It was founded by Barb Hyman, a former HR executive who is based in Melbourne. Sapia claims that companies using its software are saving up to 20 hours a week in recruitment time, while also cutting the time-to-hire in half. They report a 90 per cent satisfaction rate among job applicants. Recruiter Tammie Ballis, who owns Realistic Careers, expressed scepticism about the approach, calling it 'dehumanising'. 'It's a cost-cutting feature, it's also a screening tool,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'You are treated like a number now more than ever, especially if you are applying to jobs for the big retailers.' She did acknowledge that businesses were trying to save money, saying the HR process is often 'expensive'. A screenshot of a job advertisement promoting the use of Sapia AI was shared to Reddit where social media users were divided 'My suggestion to you as a recruiter is don't touch the big retailers, you are more likely to get a personal and human experience when applying to a small or medium sized business,' Ms Ballis said. A screenshot of a job advertisement promoting the use of Sapia AI was shared to Reddit, where social media users slammed the change. 'Pro-tip: If they were actually interested in hiring you, they'd speak to you in person. Don't put up with this dehumanising c***,' one wrote. 'We're cooked,' another wrote. 'It won't be long before people are selling optimal answers for AI interviews, it'll be like SEO for Google,' a third added. 'As long as someone knows the key words/phrases they'll nail the interview.'
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Lawsuit alleges Workday is discriminating against over-40s
Major tech firm Workday is facing a collective action lawsuit alleging that a feature of its recruitment tech is discriminatory against applicants over 40. In 2024, Derek Mobley sued Workday, a company that provides tech to help firms with hiring and workforce management. He alleged that the company's job applicant screening algorithm meant that he was rejected by more than 100 jobs over seven years due to his age, race and disabilities. Mobley is a black man over the age of 40 who identifies as having anxiety and depression. Four other plaintiffs over the age of 40 have since joined him with allegations of age discrimination. Earlier this month, California district judge Rita Lin ruled the lawsuit could move forward as a nationwide collective action - similar to a class action. The plaintiffs claim that they submitted hundreds of applications to the software but were rejected every time - sometimes within a matter of minutes. According to court documents, they claim Workday's AI-based hiring tools 'disproportionately disqualifies individuals over the age of forty (40) from securing gainful employment.' Workday denies the allegations. Some 11,000 companies worldwide use Workday, which provides a platform for firms to post job openings and manage the recruitment process. It also offers a service called 'HiredScore AI,' which it says uses 'responsible AI' to grade the best candidates and cut down the time recruiters spend screening applicants, CNN reported. In a court filing opposing the allegations, Workday claims it does not screen prospective employees and that its tech does not make decisions on hiring. AI tools can help businesses manage a sudden influx of thousands of applications. But critics of the tech are concerned that AI can contain biases that may deter people from being hired based on factors such as their age, gender or race. The case is still in its early stages. But it serves as a warning that employers could be held accountable for algorithmic screening tools if they disproportionately harm certain groups - even if the bias is unintentional. For example, The American Civil Liberties Union has previously warned that AI hiring tools 'pose an enormous danger of exacerbating existing discrimination in the workplace.' In 2018, Amazon had to scrap a 'sexist' AI hiring tool after it taught itself to prefer male candidates over females. Mobley claims he kept being rejected, often without being offered an interview, despite having almost a decade of experience and having graduated cum laude from Morehouse College. According to court documents, he alleges he once submitted a job application at 12:55am and had already received a rejection by 1:50am. Another plaintiff, Jill Hughes, claimed she also received automated rejections for hundreds of roles 'often received within a few hours of applying or at odd times outside of business hours … indicating a human did not review the applications,' CNN reported. In some cases, she claims the rejection emails falsely said she did not meet the minimum requirements for the role. Mobley's original complaint claims: 'Algorithmic decision-making and data analytics are not, and should not be assumed to be, race neutral, disability neutral, or age neutral. 'Too often, they reinforce and even exacerbate historical and existing discrimination.' Judge Lin's order on May 16 will allow Mobley's lawyers to notify other people who may have similar claims against Workday to join the lawsuit, but the company can still ask the court to deal with the claims individually.
