AI In Recruiting In The Digital Age

Artificial intelligence is not a futuristic topic in recruitment, it is already our reality, and it is part of the hiring process from both sides. Most candidates use AI to write their CVs or cover letters, they tend to use it to prepare for interviews and do their research about a potential employer. However, recruiters use AI to search for talent or to manage applications, and some companies have already introduced AI-driven CV screening. The main question here is: when AI enters the recruitment process, who is really evaluating whom? Are we losing trust during the process? Trust is one of the foundations of recruitment, and it should not be lost as AI becomes more present in the process. Recruitment is not only about matching a CV with a job description, but about understanding people, their motivation, and their potential. At the moment, the recuiter believes the CV is AI written and does not trust it and the candidate believes the CV is screened by AI technology, not by a human being, and loses trust in the process as well. But how much AI is really used in the process?

AI is being used by candidates more than many companies realize

40 – 60% of candidates use AI for very practical reasons such as improving the wording of their CV, correcting language, tailoring documents to a job ad, or presenting themselves more clearly. In other words, AI is often used as a writing assistant, not as a way to fake experience.

More polished CV does not always automatically mean a stronger candidate, but it may simply mean the certain candidate had access to better tools.

What is CV screening?

CV screening is the process of reviewing applications to decide which candidates should move forward with the hiring process. This process is completed by recruiters who compare a candidate’s experience, skills, motivation, salary expectations, availability, and career path with the requirements of a certain role.

AI CV screening uses software to rank, filter, or recommend candidates based on job criteria, keywords, skills, previous titles, education etc.

This can be helpful when companies receive hundreds or thousands of applications and are overloaded with work. However, this method is very risky because a system may overvalue keywords, misunderstand career changes, penalize unusual CV formats, or miss strong candidates whose experience does not fit a standard pattern. That is why we believe CV screening should definitely be led by human!

How many CVs are actually screened by AI?

The answer depends heavily on the country, industry, company size, and definition of “AI screening.”

AI screening refers to the use of artificial intelligence to assess, rank, filter, or reject candidates during the recruitment process. This does not mean that every CV is automatically rejected by a robot. In many companies, AI supports recruiters by helping them identify relevant profiles, compare applications with job requirements, or prioritize candidates for review.

However, recruitment is built on trust between candidates and recruiters. A CV is not only a list of keywords, skills, or job titles. It represents a person’s career path, motivation, potential, communication style, and individual story. These are elements that cannot be fully understood by AI alone.

This is why we believe that even though times are changing and AI is becoming part of recruitment, the hiring process still needs more than one perspective and more than two eyes checking an application. Human judgment remains essential, especially when evaluating context, career changes, international backgrounds, language differences, and real potential.

According to Resume Genius’ 2026 Hiring Insights Report, 37% of hiring managers say their company allows hiring software to screen out applications based on criteria they set.

This means many candidates are right to think some kind of automated screening may be involved, but it does not mean every CV is rejected by AI. In many companies, AI supports the process rather than fully replacing human review.

In Switzerland, AMOSA data shows that while 65% of job seekers use AI, only 13% of companies report using AI in recruitment, rising to 24% among large companies.

This indicates that, at the moment, AI adoption is occurring more often on the side of candidates than on the side of companies among Swiss employers.

Do candidates believe their CVs are scanned by AI?

A recent survey found that only 10% of job seekers believe nearly all of their applications are reviewed by a human recruiter. At the same time, 64% felt confident their resumes go through bots and AI CV screening.

This perception is very crucial for the applying process, because if candidates truly believe that the process is automated, they write their CVs considering ‘’favorable AI words or techniques’’ in order to get their CV noticed and of course they use AI tools for this matter.

The result is a strange loop: candidates write CVs for AI, companies use AI tools to read them, and recruiters and line managers are left with applications that look increasingly similar.

Can recruiters recognize AI-written CVs?

Insight Global’s 2025 AI in Hiring survey found that 88% of hiring managers claim that they can recognize when candidates use AI for applications, CVs and cover and motivational letters. The same survey found that 54% would care if a candidate used AI-generated application materials

It was found that 80% of hiring managers say they can often tell when a resume has been written by AI, and 77% say many resumes appear completely or partially AI-generated.

But this is where the topic becomes complicated.

For example, A Stanford-linked study discovered that detection technologies can incorrectly identify non-native English writing as AI-generated and can be avoided with simple prompting tactics, as well as directly translated text.

For international markets like Switzerland, this is especially relevant, because many strong candidates write in a second or in a third language. A CV that sounds too polished, too generic, or too structured is not necessarily fake, in most cases it is submitted by a candidate who is trying to communicate professionally in a competitive market.

The use of AI for the purpose of wording and translation is not a universal problem. The problem is the complete generation and construction of a CV by an AI tool, which indicates that no effort was put into creating your own biography.

Candidate perspective

For candidates, AI can be useful for structuring a CV, correcting language and preparation for interviews. Research highlighted by MIT Sloan found that job seekers who received algorithmic writing assistance for their resumes received 7.8% more job offers than those without assistance. They were also more likely to be hired in their first month on the platform studied. The issue is not that candidates should avoid using AI, it is how they choose to use it.

Good use of AI:

Improvement of grammar and writing clear messaging

Summarizing real achievements more clearly, making your skills and professional experience stand out

Support for interview preparation/ research

Risky use of AI:

Inventing experiences which do not exist

Exaggerating skills

Creating generic motivation letters which do not stand out

Making every application sound the same and very general

Preparing candidates’ CVs for jobs they cannot actually perform

The strongest applications still include something AI cannot create and these are the real examples, the real results, and the real motivation that the candidates carry.

Insight Global’s survey found that 99% of surveyed hiring managers use AI in some capacity in the hiring process, and 98% reported efficiency improvements. However, 93% still emphasized the importance of human involvement.

This is exactly where we believe there should be balance, meaning that all AI tools are helpful, but the decisions during a hiring process must be made by a human.

Recruitment is about understanding career paths, personality, motivation, team fit or communication style and potential. A human recruiter can see potential beyond a job title, AI cannot (yet). AI may help with finding and organizing information, but it cannot fully understand a person.

References:

AMOSA Arbeitsmarktbeobachtung. (2026). Künstliche Intelligenz in Jobsuche und Recruiting. AMOSA.
Link: https://www.amosa.net/projekte/kuenstliche-intelligenz.html

SVEB. (2026, April 22). So wird KI bei Jobsuche und Rekrutierung eingesetzt. SVEB / alice.ch.
Link: https://alice.ch/de/news/so-wird-ki-bei-jobsuche-und-rekrutierung-eingesetzt/

Resume Genius. (2026, March 24). 2026 Hiring Insights Report: ATS, AI, & Employer Expectations. Resume Genius.
Link: https://resumegenius.com/blog/job-hunting/hiring-insights-report

CFO Dive. (2025, September 2). Only 10% of job seekers believe recruiters see most applications, survey finds. CFO Dive.
Link: https://www.cfodive.com/news/only-job-seekers-believe-recruiters-see-most-applications-AI-resumes/759061/

Insight Global. (2025). 2025 AI in Hiring Survey Report. Insight Global.
Link: https://insightglobal.com/2025-ai-in-hiring-report/

Liang, W., Yuksekgonul, M., Mao, Y., Wu, E., & Zou, J. (2023). GPT detectors are biased against non-native English writers. arXiv.
Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.02819
DOI: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2304.02819

MIT Sloan School of Management. (2023, April 26). Job seekers with AI-boosted resumes more likely to be hired. MIT Sloan.
Link: https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/job-seekers-ai-boosted-resumes-more-likely-to-be-hired