From Resumes to Job Offers: How AI Could Replace the ‘Human' in ‘Human Resources'

From mundane chores to complex work duties, artificial intelligence is automating a growing number of tasks, claiming to get them done faster, better, and in many cases, without any technical skills.

Editing videos for social media. Sending emails. Customizing a Spotify playlist for deep work. Planning a trip. There’s an AI tool offering to do nearly any task you can think of doing.

One of the more popular tasks people seem willing to hand over to AI? Writing those dreaded-but-necessary cover letters and resumes during a job search.

A recent survey found that out of more than 1,000 jobseekers, 46 percent reported using ChatGPT to help write their resume or cover letter, CNBC reported. 

And they could be helping people land the job.

The ResumeBuilder.com survey also found that 70 percent saw a higher response rate, as compared to non-AI generated resumes.

Nearly 60 percent of them were hired.

This article is part of a series, AI Does…What!? Tools That Can Already Change Our Lives.

How AI is Already Changing the Job Search

No one likes spending hours trying to summarize past job experiences. 

A growing collection of generative AI tools claim to make resumes stand out to recruiters. But its usefulness could also start going both directions.

“Right now the process in HR – job hunting, talent retention – is painful. It’s time consuming, inefficient and slow,” said Peter Duris, chief executive of the AI-powered startup Kickresume. 

Duris believes that talent recruitment could one day be replaced by AI agents on both sides of the interviewing table, and industry reports show he may be right.

Last year, Amazon reportedly laid off its recruiters and could replace them with AI-powered technology to help funnel qualified applicants to the top of the pile, according to Forbes.

New research from HR trade group Society for Human Resource Management found that nearly one in four organizations report using AI in recruiting and hiring.

“Clearly, automation helps HR deliver value to organizations, especially when it comes to acquiring top talent,” SHRM Chief of Staff Emily Dickens said in the written report. “But we need to be assured the tools we use do not lead to bias in the hiring process, performance management or other areas of HR.”

How do American job seekers feel about AI’s involvement in the hiring process? Well, it’s a mixed bag, according to a recent Pew Research Center study.

The study found that more than 41% of Americans are opposed to companies using AI technology to review applications, while 28% favored it. Thirty percent of the 11,004 people surveyed were unsure of what to think.

What about AI making the final decision to extend a job offer?

Only seven percent of Americans favored AI being the deciding force, while a whopping 70% opposed it.

Despite skepticism and wariness, people are hopeful that AI could address racial bias and discrimination concerns in hiring processes by creating equal ground among applicants.

What Are Some AI Tools You Can Use For the Job Hunt, Right Now?

WordTune, an AI-powered writing tool, can be used to tighten resumes by rephrasing words into stronger, more concise sentences. The tool claims to not only edit and revise writing, but it says it can also transform thoughts into ideas, similar to how a writing professor or tutor would help a student. 

Generative AI writing tools have faced public criticism about plagiarism, but WordTune developers claim their custom algorithm generates original suggestions based on the users’ writing, and taught it to never lift words verbatim from other websites.

And Kickresume, Duris’ tool, allows users to input personal information that’s commonly found on resumes – experience, education, skills, hobbies. It then generates a resume based on the responses. 

“We are trying to make our lives easier when hunting for new jobs and opportunities and raise our value,” Duris said. “Our main goal is to raise your value on the job market.”

The company wasn’t founded using AI, but he sees it as the future of the business.

“We’re trying to move forward from the resume stuff to the AI stuff. We think the resume itself won’t be here as we know it right now,” Duris said. 

Work and productivity tools similar to Kickresume:

Auto-writers similar to WordTune

Speech-to-Text tools similar to VoicePen

NBC does not endorse the use of any tools featured in this article, or other articles within this series. Please read the Terms & Services of each product and use at user discretion.