I was interviewed by an AI recruiter for the first time and it was weird

Apparently, interviews with an AI recruiter are becoming more common. I just had one, and the experience was a bit weird, but actually more normal than I would have thought. The irony was that it was for a job teaching an AI.

The job application

I don’t really need a job, but I am always looking out for an interesting side hustle. So my interest was piqued when a friend sent me a job that sounded ideal. It was to teach an AI how to teach literature better.

There are obviously some moral and professional quandaries at play here. I don’t like that AI companies clearly scraped published authors’ books. It is just wrong, and as someone who makes their living from writing, I am against it.

But literature is different, as the work is in the public domain. In most countries, you can legally copy and freely distribute books 70 years after an author has died. So the writer, publisher and all their descendants get the cash, but then the work can be shared.

Consequently, I am ok with sharing great works of literature that are 70+ years old. I don’t want to generalise, but young people don’t read enough, and that is possibly why they are all so depressed. (Ok, I do want to generalise.)

So when I saw a job that wanted a writer who knows literature (I have a Bachelor’s degree in it) to teach an AI how to teach literature to people, I was intrigued. It will probably be dull as hell, and I am 90% cerrtain that I don’t want the job, but it was easy to apply, and I impulsively went for it.

The interview with the AI recruiter was both weird and kind of normal

When I get up in the morning, I stumble to the bathroom, pee, brush my teeth, then stumble to the kitchen, put the kettle on, and make a pint of coffee. I then go to my desk area, collapse in my comfy office chair and read emails.

I look a mess – unshaven, in the t-shirt I slept in, hair all over the place. But I need to drink the pint of coffee before I can even think about showering or looking presentable. It was while looking like a tramp that I saw an email saying my application was proceeding and asking if I would now like to do an online interview.

There was a button. I live in Thailand, and it would have been late at night in the US, so it seemed unlikely that a recruiter would be sitting around on standby on the off chance someone wanted to apply. So I stupidly assumed this would be about organising and scheduling an interview. My coffee hadn’t kicked in yet, so when my laptop asked for permission to use the camera and microphone, I stupidly clicked yes, still thinking this was setting something up for the near future.

A smartly dressed man in a suit appeared on my screen. His image didn’t change, but his voice (which was transcribed on one side of the screen) introduced him as Robert. He said he was going to interview me. To my horror, I could see myself below Robert, and I looked bad. Imagine a man in his early fifties who hasn’t shaved for several days, looks like he just got out of bed, and is also wearing a Motorhead t-shirt. I was still ruggedly good-looking, but that doesn’t count as much as it should.

I was now in a job interview. I hurriedly downed coffee and answered a load of questions about teaching techniques, and how awesome I was at literature. I was still dazed, shabby, and rambling, but it slowly stopped feeling weird and started to feel like a genuine job interview. I just had to ignore my own image and focus.

Robert listened to my replies and even asked questions relating to my responses. I occasionally forgot he was an AI, only to be reminded when I thought too long about an answer and Robert kept asking, “Are you still there?” Which was frankly a bit rude. But since he should have been able to see me, it filled me with hope that my homeless appearance had gone unnoticed by him. If he recommends me for a position, it is possible that a human will review the recording, but not necessarily.

The longer it went on, the more it felt real and kind of normal. When the interview ended, there were no requests for further questions or inane pleasantries. I just clicked ‘end interview’, and Robert disappeared.

I’ve only had a few job interviews, but I am not sure I like this development

I have worked in TV broadcasting and journalism my entire life. For TV, either you know how to do the job, or you don’t. Most writing jobs require you to send samples and links. So I have probably had about half a dozen interviews in my entire life.

Consequently, I might not be the ideal person to explain how an AI recruiter differs from a human one.

On the plus side, it feels like a preliminary interview, and there will probably be a human interview later on if the AI thinks you are ok. So, there feels less pressure, and you don’t have to worry about body language, confidence, body odour, handshake strength, or all the other bollocks you’re supposed to care about.

On the downside, it was initially weird, and I had no time to prepare or psych myself up. (Although that was totally my fault.) I can also be surprisingly charming and good with people when I want to, but social skills were irrelevant. Every interview I have had until now has been in person, and I have gotten the job. If I can no longer cruise through life on good looks and charm, I’m screwed.

So I don’t really like this development, but it was an interesting experience. I am fortunate in that I don’t really care about or want the job, but if it really matters to someone and they keep failing AI interviews, it must be really disheartening. And, sadly, this is the future.

As I said, it was interesting, and I thought I would share, in case it helps someone. My main takeaway is that these days, when there is a button labelled ‘interview’, it might mean you are going to have one with an AI recruiter right away. So at least comb your hair.