The world of recruitment is crossing a new, unsettling frontier. While Artificial Intelligence has long automated tasks like CV screening and candidate ranking, the live job interview—a bastion of human-to-human interaction—was considered sacred. That assumption is now crumbling. Disturbing first-hand accounts from both job applicants and recruiters reveal that AI-powered avatars, indistinguishable from real people at first glance, are beginning to conduct and even sit in on interviews, raising serious questions about transparency and ethics in hiring.
"My Interviewer Wasn't Even Human": A Candidate's Eerie Experience
In a detailed post on the r/interviews subreddit, a job applicant described a seemingly normal video interview. They joined a call to see a woman who smiled, nodded, and asked questions. Initially, nothing seemed amiss. However, the candidate soon noticed unnatural, repetitive head movements and small, recurring facial twitches. Chalking it up to a poor internet connection, they continued.
The real unease began with the conversation. The interviewer responded instantly to every answer, using flawlessly polished language without a single "uh" or pause. When the candidate curiously asked, "Why do you think this role matters?" the response was immediate, confident, and "textbook-perfect." The candidate asked the same question twice more. Each time, the answer was identical in wording and cadence. After a brief screen freeze, the avatar continued as if nothing happened.
The post concluded with a critical ethical question: "I’m not against AI in hiring, but if an interviewer is basically a talking bot, shouldn’t candidates at least be told?" This sparked hundreds of comments debating the need for transparency in an increasingly automated recruitment landscape.
The Flip Side: Recruiters Encounter "Fake Candidates"
The automation is not one-sided. In a parallel account posted on r/recruiting, a hiring manager shared their experience from the other side of the screen. While interviewing for an AI engineering role, they immediately sensed something was off with the candidate's "weirdly repetitive" and looping head movements.
The candidate then launched into a nearly two-minute monologue—continuous, textbook-perfect speech with no filler words or pauses. To test their suspicion, the recruiter asked a basic question: "What is AI?" The response was scripted. Repeating the question yielded the exact same answer, twice more.
After the call disconnected, HR provided an explanation. The real candidate had joined briefly at the start to introduce themselves, after which an AI agent took over the interview. "It even looked almost identical to the person’s LinkedIn photo," the recruiter noted, declaring, "So yeah. Not just fake resumes anymore. Fake candidates are now literally joining interviews. Recruiting hell has officially entered the uncanny valley."
A Quietly Crossed Line and Its Implications
These incidents, while perhaps not yet widespread, signal a definitive shift. The final point of genuine human contact in the hiring process—the live interview—is being quietly automated. What makes this development particularly disconcerting is the rapid advancement of the underlying technology.
AI is now adept at mimicking human faces, voices, and conversational rhythms. Tools for voice modulation can erase natural pauses, while visual generators create lifelike faces. Behavioural models are increasingly sophisticated, learning to replicate human imperfections. For now, repetitive loops and scripted answers can give them away. However, the gap between artificial and authentic human interaction is closing fast.
This evolution presents profound challenges for India's dynamic job market. It forces a crucial conversation about disclosure, consent, and the very nature of fair assessment. As companies seek efficiency and candidates seek an edge, the need for clear ethical guidelines and regulatory frameworks in AI-driven hiring has never been more urgent.
