On September 18, 2026, BBC News published a video called Everyone's using AI to get hired. Now what?. It follows three young job seekers, a recruitment executive and the head of an AI consultancy, and asks whether AI is making hiring harder for both sides. Here is a short summary, with a few notes from us, since we make software for the interview stage.
The number of applications
A UK graduate vacancy received 38 applications on average twenty years ago and 140 last year. The three job seekers had each sent between 50 and more than 200 in the past year. The BBC points to fewer vacancies, a record number of graduates and AI tools that make applying quick. One survey cited in the video found that 73% of students and graduates use AI at some point while applying, for example to find openings or to match a CV to a job description.
How many employers use AI to screen applications
In a survey cited in the video, 75% of candidates believed AI was screening CVs, while 21% of recruiters said they used it for that. Matt Weston, a senior executive at the recruitment firm Robert Half, says AI-written CVs look so alike that real skills are harder to see on paper, so his team spends more time checking experience. The video also mentions a Financial Times article about recruiters going back to referrals.
Whether AI screening is fair
Kate Young, whose consultancy works with companies that use AI recruitment tools, notes that hiring decisions made by people have always had problems, such as turning someone down for a weak handshake. In her view, a well-built system that judges only what matters for the job can remove some of that bias, given many safeguards.
The video also describes a risk researchers call algorithmic monoculture. If many employers use similar screening tools, the same candidates may be favored, or rejected, again and again, so ten applications are not always ten separate chances.
AI interviews
Candidates who pass screening may be interviewed by an AI avatar, or record answers to fixed questions against a timer. The World Economic Forum says these interviews can reduce recruiter bias and make hiring faster. The job seekers did not enjoy them. One was told by an AI interviewer that they lacked empathy, and as one put it, "It feels like I'm talking to a robot."
What this means for the live interview
When most applications look alike, a conversation with a real person becomes the most useful part of the process for both sides. Remote interviews have their own problem, because AI interview assistants can listen to the call, read the question from the shared screen and show an answer within seconds. We explain how AI interview assistants work and the signs a candidate is using AI in your interview.
dontapplyai shows interview questions in a way that people read easily and AI tools have much more trouble reading, so the answers you hear are more likely to be the candidate's own. More in what dontapplyai does in an interview.
