When Jennifer Dunn, 54, applied for a VP of marketing position last month, she expected a conversation with a human recruiter. Instead, she was contacted by a virtual assistant named Alex, who scheduled the meeting via text. When she joined the call, Alex — an artificial intelligence recruiter — greeted her.
“Are you a human?” she asked.
“No, I’m not,” Alex replied, assuring her it was there to “make the process smoother.”
For the next 20 minutes, Dunn answered Alex’s questions about her background. But when she asked about the role, Alex couldn’t provide much detail. The interview felt “hollow,” she said — and she eventually hung up before it ended.
Across the job market, candidates are encountering A.I.-powered interviewers — faceless voices and avatars programmed to assess qualifications. This emerging technology is part of a growing field called agentic A.I., where systems hold conversations and adapt based on the applicant’s responses.
While automation has long handled resume screening and interview scheduling, the interview itself was seen as too human for A.I. to replace. But that’s quickly changing, making job hunting feel even more impersonal.
“It felt very dehumanizing,” said Charles Whitley, 22, a recent computer science graduate. He described one A.I. interview as “horror-movie-type stuff” when the system added human-like filler words like “um” and “uh.”
The use of autonomous interviewers is rising, driven by startups like Ribbon AI, Talently, and Apriora, aiming to ease the burden on recruiters and handle higher applicant volumes. These tools are especially useful as job seekers increasingly rely on A.I. to mass-produce applications.
According to Arsham Ghahramani, CEO of Ribbon AI, their virtual interviewer is customizable in voice and asks role-specific questions. Despite being non-human, he claims the experience is more “humanizing” because it focuses on the candidate’s individual profile.
Nonprofits like Propel Impact in Vancouver have embraced the technology. Using Ribbon AI, they interviewed 500 applicants this year — compared to just 150 with human interviewers last year. Recorded A.I. interviews were shared with partner companies, helping streamline hiring for a large-scale fellowship program.
Still, not everyone is convinced. Sam DeMase, a career expert at ZipRecruiter, emphasizes that humans are still essential in final hiring decisions. A.I. can carry bias and lacks the nuance needed to assess culture fit or emotional intelligence.
Yet, more companies are adopting A.I. interviews for efficiency. That’s not great news for people like Emily Robertson-Yeingst, 57, who spoke to a bot named Eve for a VP of product marketing role. The A.I. asked detailed questions but couldn’t respond about next steps. She never heard back and later saw the same job reposted.
“It made me feel like an experiment,” she said. “Was there even a real job?”
However, others have had better experiences. James Gu, 21, a business student in Calgary, found comfort in talking to a bot — no pressure, no judgment. “It felt like it wanted to learn about me,” he said. He got the job.
As for Jennifer Dunn, she’s had nine interviews over the past two months — only one with A.I. And that’s how she hopes it stays.
“It didn’t feel real,” she said. “I don’t want to go through that again.”