Recruiters are increasingly deploying artificial intelligence robots to conduct job interviews, with new research revealing that four in five hiring managers now utilise the technology at some stage in the hiring process. A comprehensive survey of 500 recruiters found that 83 percent employ AI to accelerate recruitment, while 28 percent rely on it specifically to manage overwhelming volumes of applications, according to data from CV-Library.
Job Seekers Express Deep Distrust in AI-Led Recruitment
The proliferation of AI in hiring has significantly eroded trust among candidates. More than half of job seekers (53 percent) believe their applications have been rejected by artificial intelligence without any human oversight. In a separate survey of 1,100 candidates, a substantial 63 percent stated that AI-driven recruitment processes are less fair than those judged solely by humans.
"It Felt Incredibly Alienating" – Candidates Describe AI Interview Experience
David, a 37-year-old part-time bartender, shared his unsettling experience of being interviewed by a non-human agent. "Being interviewed by an AI bot felt incredibly alienating – there's no feedback or human interaction, so you have no idea how you’re coming across," he explained. "It feels like you’re being filtered out, and with so little real communication, it’s easy for the effort you put in to be completely overlooked."
AI-Generated Applications Surge as Technology Becomes Pervasive
The research indicates that AI use is now bidirectional in the recruitment landscape. Nearly 80 percent of employers surveyed reported a dramatic increase in AI-generated job applications over the past year. This trend reflects candidates' growing adaptation to the new technological gatekeepers in the hiring process.
Simon, a current jobseeker, articulated this pragmatic shift: "I initially avoided interviews with AI platforms due to the complete lack of human interaction and impersonal nature. However, AI is now even present in human-led calls, taking notes during interviews. After three months of unemployment, what choice do I have? If AI is going to be the gatekeeper, I might as well use it to help me navigate through those gates."
Intensifying Job Competition Fuels AI Adoption on Both Sides
The rise of AI in recruitment coincides with dramatically heightened competition for employment. Office for National Statistics figures show that vacancies per 100 jobs nearly halved from 4.1 to 2.2 between May 2022 and February 2025. Meanwhile, data from recruitment platform Tribepad reveals that applications per job posting skyrocketed by 286 percent in the year to November 2024.
Industry Leader Warns Against Over-Reliance on AI in Recruitment
Lee Biggins, CEO and founder of CV-Library, commented on the findings: "Candidates have long felt that the human touch is ebbing away from the hiring process and that good people are getting screened out unfairly. This insight from recruiters in both agencies and businesses suggests their frustrations may be justified."
He added a crucial warning: "It’s a timely wake-up call that not everything should be outsourced to AI, especially in recruitment, where every candidate is individually unique. Artificial intelligence can add value by automating some laborious processes, but effective recruiters are using it to support human intuition, not replace it entirely."
The research underscores a fundamental tension in modern employment practices: while AI offers efficiency gains for overwhelmed recruiters, its implementation risks dehumanising the hiring process and exacerbating candidate disillusionment during an already challenging job market.
