Would You Use A.I. to Interview Job Candidates?

The job interview had long seemed to be the part of the hiring process that most needed a human touch. Now A.I. is encroaching upon even that.

Good Morning!

Here are today’s highlights:

• The evidence is growing that the tariffs and uncertainty are hitting smaller businesses hard.

• A once-promising startup that launched successfully on Kickstarter is fighting to survive.

• Ami Kassar says that the small business lending market suggests the economy is strong.

• The dollar’s decline gives some businesses a boost.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Would you use A.I. to interview job candidates? “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.”

• “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.”

• “Some aspects of job searches — such as screening résumés 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 A.I. is encroaching upon even that domain, making the often frustrating and ego-busting task of finding a job even more impersonal.” READ MORE