We have a small parcel of land that came with our house. It isn’t really good for much beyond helping to keep the local weed crop robust. We may subdivide it and sell it someday, but for now, we have to settle for keeping the grass mowed. 

I hate to admit it, but I am at the age where I don’t have the wherewithal to spend an entire day mowing lawns. We took a stab at hiring a local boy who wanted to earn extra money. He showed up with a push mower, and his dad followed him around with a handful of Walmart bags to collect the grass. The boy tried but made it about twenty feet before giving up. 

We’ve also tried jobbing the lot out to local independent small companies, usually headed up by entrepreneurial young men. We’ve been through three so far. These people make great promises; we agree to their price, and then... they disappear. I think Number Four may be the charm. His company has a Tolkien-inspired name, and he was able to make obscure Lord of the Rings references that only a fellow nerd would know. Plus, he keeps showing up when he says he will.

If you have ever had to hire people before, you know what a crapshoot it can be. When I was in radio, we needed a board operator. One person said she was qualified because she “listened to the radio a lot.” Another sat down to record her aircheck. I handed her headphones and, my hand to God, she said, “I don’t know how to use these.” I think it was shortly after that when I discovered day-drinking. 

Then, of course, there are those applicants who make illustrious claims about their abilities, despite the fact that they have zero experience in the field in question. I have worked with people who lacked the skills and maturity required for a given position. In those cases, co-workers usually had to pick up the slack until management found the stones to fire the charlatan. 

The game of Three-Card Monty that is the hiring process has only become more complicated with the advent of AI. More and more applicants are turning to artificial intelligence to spruce up their resumes. Candidates are turning to ChatGPT to add the keywords from job descriptions to their resumes, and some are even ponying up the cash to have AI agents find jobs and go through the application process. 

The New York Times has the story of Katie Tanner, an HR consultant in Utah. Utah is known for the “Silicon Slopes,” an area in Utah County so-named for the massive in-migration of tech companies during California’s initial decline. Tanner was trying to fill a remote work position that required just three years of experience. By the time 12 hours had passed, she had 400 applications. That number reached 600 the next day, and a few days later, she was up to 1,200. That was three months ago, and Tanner is still sifting through the applications. 

Recruiters are also noticing that all of these erstwhile resumes are starting to look very similar to one another. On the other hand, the article also cites Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright, who claims the company’s AI screening and scheduling tool, Ava Cado, has cut the hiring process time by 75%. That said, the Times talked with Hung Lee, a former recruiter. The piece notes:

But candidates can also use A.I. to cheat in these interviews, and some companies have added more automated skill assessments early in the hiring process. For example, HireVue offers A.I.-powered games to gauge abilities like pattern recognition and working memory, and a virtual “tryout” that tests emotional intelligence or skills like counting change. Sometimes, Lee said, “we end up with an A.I. versus A.I. type of situation.” (sic)

In some cases, recruiters and companies are developing new AI programs that use “natural language” to find the right person for a position. 

Further muddying the waters is the issue of fake identities. The Times article cites DOJ indictments in January in a scheme in which North Korean nationals were trying to get hired for remote U.S. IT jobs. And then there is the issue of discrimination. AI can show bias, which could lead to lawsuits.

One of the gripes employers have is not that candidates are using AI, but that they are not using it well. They are sloppy about applying AI, and it shows. I use a specific program to help me manage our business. If I need assistance with something, I am directed to “chat” with someone in the company. I know full well that I am talking with a bot, since the “person” on the other end of the chat usually gives me answers to questions I did not ask and provides solutions to problems I do not have. But that is only because the company cannot afford a more sophisticated chatbot at present. I suppose at some point, my AI will talk with their AI while I sink into obscurity like a prehistoric mammal at some future La Brea tar pit.

So as companies continue to implement AI to find the right candidates, candidates will also use AI to gain an edge in a competitive market. As noted above, this will lead to AI HR reps screening AI candidates, which could ultimately mean that humans will no longer be required for either position. Savor the irony.

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