Watch Out for AI Job Applicants

It can be tough to find the right candidate for your job, but AI is making it more difficult. Gartner research predicts that in three years, one quarter of job applicants will be totally fraudulent, generated using AI technology. So, how can your business ensure you’re hiring the right human, and not a human hiding behind a bot?

AI is making it easier for scammers to hijack job applications through every step of the process. Some are using AI to automatically apply to jobs on the scammer’s behalf, which increases the number of job applications the scammer can apply to at once. The length of time each application usually takes could force scammers to slow down, or involve more actors in order to send out more job applications. But with automatic AI, one scammer can outsource that work to machines that can fire away applications faster than whole teams of humans.

Scammers can also rely on AI to generate their credentials: AI programs can write up cover letters and resumes based on the job posting, so a candidate can look “perfect” on paper, but in actuality have zero experience relevant to the role. All the scammer has to do is feed the job description and qualifications through an AI program. From here, the program can generate a lengthy cover letter matching each point of the listing, and a resume that demonstrates the experience the hiring company is looking for.

But even if a scammer makes it through the initial stages of a job application through their fraudulent paper credentials, one would think the interview process would expose them. After all, interviewing is live, even in our digital age. Even a remote scammer will need to sit for a phone or video call and answer questions on the fly. Surely someone who has no experience wouldn’t be able to fake it through these stages.

However, AI has advanced to the point where this is indeed possible. AI programs can realistically mimic human voices, allowing the scammer to breeze through a phone interview. And even if the interview is over Zoom, AI avatars can take that audio technology and combine it with realistic personas to sell the effect. Underneath it all are AI models that can generate full answers to questions within seconds, and by connecting to the internet, the models can search the web to come up with convincing answers to those questions.

Luckily, even AI isn’t perfect, which means there are plenty of ways to root out these scammers before your company hires them. First, always check outside credentials for any applicant: The resume might look good, but if the candidate’s LinkedIn page is sparse for details (or nonexistent), that’s a red flag. During video interviews, watch out for any odd glitches or inconsistencies—particularly audio that doesn’t sync with the video. AI can be convincing, but it still struggles with lip syncing, especially for extended periods of time.

A real person will also be able to easily interact with the space around them, and answer questions about it without issue. That might sound obvious, but the AI will likely be unable to follow directives like “point to that light switch,” “write your name on a piece of paper,” or “wave your hand in front of your face.”

Following these tips will help protect your business from slackers using AI to cheat the system, but also bad actors looking to scam businesses through these long-term strategies. Their tactics are getting clever, but that doesn’t mean they’ll work.