Artificial intelligence promises to make hiring smarter and more objective. But in practice, AI-powered tools are introducing new layers of inconsistency and doubt at a moment when trust in hiring is already fragile.  

Today, employers are inundated with more applications than they can realistically process. Overwhelmed hiring teams are turning to AI-powered solutions to triage the flood of applications, prioritizing speed and scale in an increasingly strained labor market. They’re leveraging new tools to screen resumes, schedule interviews, assess competencies and even predict job fit.  

In a self-reinforcing cycle, the influx of applications has been driven by growing use of generative AI on the candidates’ side. With these tools, candidates can produce resumes and cover letters at a rapid pace, with nearly half of job seekers using AI to increase their application volume.

As a result, we are in a de facto “AI arms race.” A volatile labor market, riddled with uncertainty in part driven by AI’s adoption has created a hiring system that moves faster than ever but with less clarity, confidence and shared understanding of what being qualified actually means.  

To maximize what AI can offer employers in terms of efficiency, while also working toward successful hiring outcomes for job seekers, there are foundational changes that business leaders must treat as top priorities  

A crisis of confidence in the hiring system

The Illusion of Progress in Skills-Based Hiring, a special report from the University of Phoenix Career Institute, illustrates the rise in usage of AI-powered solutions in the hiring process as well as the challenges that have come along with that.

The report finds that nearly 30% of hiring stakeholders say AI tools are starting to perform tasks once handled by humans — raising urgent questions about fairness, transparency and reliability. More than half of candidates (57%) and nearly half of hiring stakeholders (47%) believe AI impacts objectivity in the hiring process. Half of hiring managers (50%) worry that these tools may screen out qualified candidates.  

While concerns around the use of AI in the hiring process are widespread, action to address them is not. I’ve said before that AI is an impatient technology, and our legacy hiring and talent infrastructure was not built to move at this speed. This mismatch is fueling the very doubt these tools were meant to reduce. Per University of Phoenix’s research, only 37% of organizations using AI in their hiring process currently audit their tools for fairness — an alarming gap between risk and responsibility.  

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