As the US labor market cools, hiring is turning into a high-speed contest between job seekers using AI to apply faster and employers using AI to screen faster. The result, researchers and workers warn, is a process that can feel more automated, more crowded, and harder to trust.
More than half of the organizations surveyed by the Society for Human Resource Management used AI to recruit workers in 2025. An estimated third of ChatGPT users reportedly used the OpenAI chatbot during their job search. However, recent research suggests that when applicants use AI, they are less likely to be hired, even as companies face a surge in applications.
“The ability (for companies) to select the best worker today may be worse due to AI,” said Anaïs Galdin, a Dartmouth researcher who co-authored a study on how large language models have reshaped cover letters.
Galdin and Princeton researcher Jesse Silbert reviewed cover letters for tens of thousands of applications on Freelancer.com. They found that after ChatGPT’s 2022 debut, cover letters became longer and better written, while employers placed less weight on them. Hiring rates fell, and average starting wages dropped.
“If we do nothing to make information flow better between workers and firms, then we might have an outcome that looks something like this,” Silbert said.
With more applications to process, some employers are automating interviews too. In October, 54% of US job seekers surveyed by recruiting software firm Greenhouse said they had an AI-led interview. Critics say that does not remove subjectivity.
“Algorithms can copy and even magnify human biases,” said Djurre Holtrop, who studies asynchronous video interviews, algorithms, and LLMs in hiring. “Every developer needs to be wary of that.”
Greenhouse CEO Daniel Chait described a grim cycle. “Both sides are saying, ‘This is impossible, it’s not working, it’s getting worse,'” he told CNN, calling it a “doom loop.”
Labor groups and lawmakers are pushing back. AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler called AI hiring “unacceptable.” “AI systems rob workers of opportunities they’re qualified for based on criteria as arbitrary as names, zip codes, or even how often they smile,” she said.
States such as California, Colorado, and Illinois are moving to regulate AI use in hiring. A Trump executive order could weaken state efforts, though lawyer Samuel Mitchell said it cannot “preempt” state law and mainly adds “ongoing uncertainty.”
Lawsuits are already testing the system. Meanwhile, job seekers such as Jared Looper say the AI experience can feel “cold,” and he worries: “Some great people are going to be left behind.”
