When AI Becomes the Interviewee: How Candidates Are Using Artificial Intelligence in the Hiring Process

Intelligence in Hiring Processes

Artificial intelligence has quietly entered every corner of the workplace – and recruitment is no exception. What began as a way for employers to streamline hiring has now turned full circle, with candidates increasingly turning to AI to help them prepare, apply and, in some cases, even interview.

As the boundaries between human and machine blur, a new question emerges: what happens when the interviewee is part algorithm? And more importantly, how can employers preserve authenticity and human connection in an AI-shaped recruitment world?

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The AI-Enhanced Candidate

For many jobseekers, AI is a supportive assistant rather than a replacement for effort. Generative tools such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are being used to polish CVs, refine cover letters and practise interview questions. Others analyse job descriptions through AI prompts to ensure their skills align with what employers are seeking.

Used ethically, these tools can make the hiring process more inclusive. Candidates for whom English is a second language, or those returning to work after a long break, can gain the confidence to express their experience more clearly. For employers, this can mean better-prepared candidates – hardly a bad thing.

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Crossing the Line – When AI “Cheats” the System

Yet not all uses of AI are as benign. Reports suggest that some candidates attempt to use AI to complete online assessments, answer live interview questions or even simulate video responses through sophisticated language or vision models.

These technologies are evolving faster than most screening processes can adapt. Some candidates run interview questions through AI tools in real time to generate responses while others submit AI-written case studies or technical tasks. What may start as “assistance” can easily slip into misrepresentation and once trust is lost, it’s hard to rebuild.

The issue is not simply dishonesty; it’s the erosion of what recruitment is meant to measure: capability, creativity and authenticity.

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Reclaiming the Human Element

At Arc IT Recruitment, we’ve seen first-hand how the human, consultative approach is more vital than ever. Technology can inform decisions, but people create trust. That’s why we’ve standardised video interviews across our process: not as a screening tool, but as a way to see the person behind the profile.

Soft skills – communication, curiosity, resilience – remain impossible to automate. They are revealed in the way someone builds rapport, handles ambiguity, or admits what they don’t yet know. These are the qualities that determine long-term success, and no algorithm can reliably detect them.

Recruitment at its best is still about connection, conversation and credibility. AI can enhance those things – but only if it’s used with transparency and purpose.

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Looking Ahead – The Future of Recruitment Integrity

AI will undoubtedly remain part of the hiring ecosystem, for both candidates and employers. But the challenge ahead is not about banning technology; it’s about balancing it.

In the years to come, authenticity may become the most valuable trait a candidate can demonstrate  and the hardest to fake. Employers that recognise and nurture that authenticity, rather than chase algorithmic efficiency, will attract the people who bring genuine creativity and trust to their teams.

Because even in an AI-driven world, it’s still the human element that makes the lasting impression.