• by Kaila Colbin , Featured Contributor, October 18, 2024

It’s called AI Hawk, and it will apply for jobs on your behalf while you eat, sleep, or play video games.

The developers describe it as a “cutting-edge, automated tool designed to revolutionize the job search and application process,” giving job seekers an edge in “today's fiercely competitive job market, where opportunities can vanish in the blink of an eye.” It leverages “the power of automation and artificial intelligence” to let users “apply to a vast number of relevant positions efficiently and in a personalized manner, maximizing their chances of landing their dream job.”

Its co-founder, Italian computer scientist Federico Elia, said he wanted to “balance the use of artificial intelligence in the recruitment process” -- to give people who are applying for jobs the same AI advantage recruiters have.

It was inevitable.

Job hunting is, for most people, an act of necessity and survival -- and one that has always carried with it a massive power imbalance. The act of applying for a role indicates at least some desire for that role, meaning the company is in a position to grant you your wish or deny you your opportunity.

But recruiters and hiring managers have leveraged technology to multiply the power imbalance a thousandfold. Applicant Tracking Systems and keyword matching came on the scene in the early 2000s, and AI resume screening, predictive analytics, chatbots and virtual assistants in the 2010s. Ninety-six percent of companies now use AI in the hiring process.

Automation and AI allow recruiters to aggregate searches across platforms and cast a wider net. From a hiring perspective, the bigger my haystack, the better my needle -- and AI lets me search a very large haystack indeed.

But if I’m a needle looking to be found… OK I’m gonna end the metaphor there. It’s simple math: The more candidates getting reviewed, the less the chance of any individual candidate getting picked.

There’s another issue at play, though. It’s the idea that a giant, uncaring, faceless machine holds my livelihood in its hands. That a giant, uncaring, faceless machine should judge me on culture fit -- oh, the irony! That a giant, caring, faceless machine is assessing my worth to society.

It’s humiliating.

Also, it feels like there’s no way it could work. There’s no way a machine can use keyword matching to know how good I am at my job. Like the SATs, these systems don’t test how capable you are; they test how well you match their pattern.

It was inevitable employees would fight back. And now we’re in an arms race.

Notice the tone of this user: “Ran it overnight, applied to around 150 jobs. got an HR call this morning… and i'm just getting started lol. I'm gonna have it run 24/7. Planning to apply to thousands of jobs. This time I (the candidate) have the leverage, not some random HR.”

That doesn’t sound like someone looking for a single job. It sounds like someone looking to blow up the system -- and fair enough, too.

Federico Elia has been personally banned from LinkedIn automating applications. LinkedIn -- which offers AI tools in its recruitment offerings -- says automated tools are not allowed on the platform. AI for me but not for thee.

AI hiring systems are arbitrage. They allow recruiters to level up while employees stand still. But arbitrage only works until it becomes the norm, and then it destroys markets.

Good luck out there.