{"id":5198,"date":"2025-03-26T04:02:03","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T08:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/2025\/03\/26\/ai-job-application-rise-risks-employing-incapable-staff-boss-warns\/"},"modified":"2025-03-26T04:02:03","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T08:02:03","slug":"ai-job-application-rise-risks-employing-incapable-staff-boss-warns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/2025\/03\/26\/ai-job-application-rise-risks-employing-incapable-staff-boss-warns\/","title":{"rendered":"AI job application rise risks employing incapable staff, boss warns"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Huw Thomas<\/span><\/p>\n

Business Correspondent, BBC Wales News<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

BBC<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

AI chatbots can be useful to candidates but should never replace “human judgement”, a careers adviser says<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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A growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in job applications risks employers hiring candidates who cannot do the work, a business owner has said.<\/p>\n

Advertising boss James Robinson said he and other business leaders were seeing a “real trend” in applicants using generative AI chatbots, and warned that candidates who were good at using the technology could “engineer” the process without being “capable of doing the job”.<\/p>\n

Careers adviser Megan Cooper said that while AI could be a useful tool for job hunters, it should never replace “human judgement”.<\/p>\n

A recent survey of more than 2,000 job applicants in the UK found just under half had used AI to help them with the application process.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Robinson, who runs Hello Starling, a Cardiff-based advertising agency, said vacancies at his business were attracting applications that were riddled with AI-generated sentences.<\/p>\n

“There are some common sentences that we see. People are always trying to ‘leverage their skillset’,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They’re often saying things like ‘my skills align with your organisation’s objectives and goals’.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n<\/div>\n

James Robinson has spotted common phrases and “Americanisms” that have been copied from AI chatbots and pasted into job applications<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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He said the chatbot ChatGPT confirmed that these were phrases it was likely to generate for a covering letter.<\/p>\n

“[It is] very difficult for me to try and work out who is real, versus which ones are robots,” he admitted.<\/p>\n

Mr Robinson shared his experiences of receiving AI-generated job applications on LinkedIn and said the responses from other business leaders “really surprised” him.<\/p>\n

“I was really, really surprised to receive messages from people saying, ‘I’m in exactly the same boat as you. How are we going to tell them apart?’ <\/p>\n

“You know, ‘do we need to be using AI to fight against this and get on top of it?’ <\/p>\n

“So I think it is a real challenge in itself, but I don’t think that I’m alone.”<\/p>\n

Mr Robinson said however that “appropriate” use of AI could help his business, and that the technology was helping applicants to be more succinct in their applications.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What is AI?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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AI allows computers to learn and solve problems in ways that can seem human.<\/p>\n

Computers cannot think, empathise or reason, but scientists have developed systems that can perform tasks which usually require human intelligence, trying to replicate how people acquire and use knowledge.<\/p>\n

Generative AI is used to create new content which can feel like it has been made by a human. It does this by learning from vast quantities of existing data such as online text and images.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Megan Cooper, a careers consultant at Cardiff Metropolitan University, says she encourages students to demonstrate “what makes them unique” in their job applications<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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At Cardiff Metropolitan University, careers advisor Megan Cooper said she was trying to steer students through the ethics of using AI as they applied for jobs.<\/p>\n

“AI can be used as a tool. It can be used as an aid. It’s something that can complement, but absolutely not replace, human judgement,” said Ms Cooper.<\/p>\n

Ms Cooper said that in many cases, students were responding to an expectation from employers that candidates understood Generative AI and could use it with confidence.<\/p>\n

“They don’t want to be seen as cheating or getting it wrong in any way at all.”<\/p>\n

She said the university was encouraging students to understand when it was appropriate to use AI.<\/p>\n

“Maybe that’s in the research stages of the application process. It might be asking AI to give feedback or help structure their CV.<\/p>\n

“Maybe it’s asking AI to help read a cover letter that they have already written to help refine it and help it sound a little bit more eloquent.”<\/p>\n

Ultimately the job interview process required applicants to ensure “what makes them unique is able to shine through”, she added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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‘It’s too much of a risk’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Student Jasmine James, 18, said she was avoiding using AI for her university work.<\/p>\n

“I feel like it’s too much of a risk, with plagiarism and stuff like that,” she said.<\/p>\n

“But I can understand why people do use it, because it is a quicker and easier alternative. <\/p>\n

“I just feel like the information isn’t always correct, so it’s best to avoid it for uni work.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n<\/div>\n

Cardiff Metropolitan University student Jasmine James says AI was “too much of a risk” to use for job applications<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Fellow student Jacob Morgan, 19, said he believed AI could be a “really helpful tool”.<\/p>\n

“I use it a lot, especially instead of Google. Sometimes I’ll just search up on AI instead, because you get better results. So it’s definitely very useful,” he said.<\/p>\n

AI technology was “here to stay” and “it’s only going to get better and better”, he added.<\/p>\n

Timothy Mitchell, who is in his second year of studying computer security at Cardiff Metropolitan University, said he believed those who did not use artificial intelligence were “cheating themselves”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n<\/div>\n

Timothy Mitchell, who is studying computer security, says AI could be used in a way that “aids us rather than replaces us”<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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“Everybody uses it. Tutors use it, employers use it,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Mitchell accepted there were “definitely some fears” around the wider use of AI, “but I personally believe they are somewhat unfounded”.<\/p>\n

He added: “What humans are best at is the creative stuff and creating new things. And AI, by principle, can’t think beyond what it’s been taught.”<\/p>\n

Generative AI could be used “in a way that aids us rather than replaces us”, he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Huw Thomas Business Correspondent, BBC Wales News BBC AI chatbots can be useful to candidates but should never replace “human judgement”, a careers adviser says A growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in job applications risks employers hiring candidates who cannot do the work, a business owner has said. Advertising boss James Robinson said he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,21,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-market","category-news","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}