Whitehall to increase face-to-face job interviews after surge in AI applications

LONDON — The U.K. civil service plans to hold more in-person job interviews and diminish the role of written candidate statements in an attempt to combat a surge in applications created by AI. Recruiting managers have seen a sharp rise in the number of applications for each role without any change to the overall number of viable candidates across the system, said a U.K.

government official with knowledge of the conversations not authorized to speak publicly. Cabinet Secretary Antonia Romeo believes some applicants are using AI to generate bland personal statements, meaning they can apply for more roles but fail to show their personal skills. In the most extreme cases, entire applications — even virtual interviews — appeared to have been generated by bots and not human beings, the official added.

There is at least one case in which civil servants became so suspicious during a virtual video call that the candidate was not a real person that they terminated the interview early.