As artificial intelligence becomes a mainstay in the recruitment space, candidates are leveraging AI to spruce up their resumes and mass-apply to jobs, while employers are relying on AI to weed through the uptick in resumes they are receiving.

But job seekers are struggling to stand out in this increasingly automated landscape and are growing more frustrated by the increased use of AI in hiring.  

Recent Gartner data reflects this. In a 3Q25 survey of 2,901 job candidates, 68% said they prefer human interactions over those with AI/chatbots, an increase from two years ago when 58% preferred humans. Additionally, more candidates (26%) said they would drop out of an application process if they had to interact with AI, up from 21% two years ago.

Improving the candidate experience

Despite these concerns, employers see AI as a way to boost efficiency while also improving the candidate experience. AI can reduce the time spent on interview scheduling, help to provide a consistent interview experience and shorten the overall time to hire.  

The newest frontier in an AI-driven hiring process is AI interview agents. Employers are starting to experiment with AI interviewers that conduct phone interviews at times that work best for candidates. Gartner’s 3Q25 survey shows that 9% of candidates have completed an interview with AI, with AI interviews being more common in technology (15%), telecommunications (12%) and professional services (11%).

While candidates have reservations about AI, Gartner’s 3Q25 survey shows 30% of overall candidates would be open to having an interview conducted by AI. For those who have done an AI interview, this number jumps to 61%. Among the candidates who have had an AI interview, 48% felt comfortable being interviewed by AI, and 27% said they prefer the AI interviewer to a human. However, only 31% said they knew ahead of time that they would be doing an AI interview — a missed opportunity to improve the candidate experience.  

Increased candidate use of AI is eroding quality

However, as more employers leverage AI, candidates are responding in kind by using AI tools themselves.  

Gartner found 13% of candidates in 3Q25 reported using generative AI in real-time during an interview, with even more candidates in the Asia-Pacific region (18%) admitting to in-interview usage. Those uses ranged from relatively benign tasks to more questionable ones. For example, 44% of candidates used generative AI during interviews for real-time research on the company or role, while 41% used it to generate answers to questions.

As hiring becomes increasingly influenced by AI, employers need to make sure they are evaluating candidates’ true abilities, while also preserving trust in the hiring process. Gartner has outlined steps employers can take to set parameters and adapt their interview process for candidate AI use.

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