Job interviews are no longer authentic. That’s the bold claim echoing across TikTok, where a viral video from September captures a young woman using an AI app to feed her responses during a video call interview. With her smartphone strategically placed beside her laptop, she reads aloud phrases like, ‘One of my key strengths is my adaptability,’ all while the skull-and-crossbones emoji underscores the video’s provocative message. But is this just a clever hack, or does it signal something deeper about the modern job market? And this is the part most people miss: It’s not just about cheating—it’s about survival in a system that’s already rigged against job seekers.
The trend doesn’t stop there. Another TikTok clip, boasting 5.3 million views, shows a candidate being asked to share her screen during a live interview. ‘My interviewer thought he caught me using AI,’ the subtitle reads, as she casually continues reading responses from her phone. These videos aren’t isolated incidents; they’re part of a growing phenomenon fueled by AI-job-search anxiety. Employers have been using AI to screen résumés and conduct first-round interviews for years, but now applicants are fighting back with their own tools—tools that blur the line between ingenuity and deception.
But here’s where it gets controversial: Is this really ‘interview fraud,’ as some HR companies label it, or is it a justified response to an unfair system? In a tightening economy, employers have weaponized technology against job seekers, leaving many with no choice but to adapt—or be left behind. The question isn’t just whether using AI to cheat is ethical; it’s whether the system itself is broken.
TikTok influencers are capitalizing on this trend, promoting AI apps like ‘AiApply’ and ‘Final Round AI,’ which promise to help candidates ‘crush any job interview.’ But are these tools genuinely useful, or are they just monetizing desperation? I decided to test one myself. After signing up for Final Round AI, I asked it to generate a response to a hypothetical interview question. The result? A bland, generic answer that sounded more like a robot than a human. It was technically correct but utterly uninspired—the kind of response that gets you hired but doesn’t prove you can actually do the job.
This raises a bigger question: What does it even mean to ‘do the job’ in today’s workplace? As David Graeber once argued, many roles are ‘bullshit jobs’—positions so detached from meaningful work that employees feel like they’re just going through the motions. In this context, using AI to cheat feels less like fraud and more like a logical extension of a system that’s already disconnected from reality. It’s not just ‘fake it ’til you make it’ anymore—it’s ‘fake it ’til you fake it.’
But let’s not forget the human cost. Young professionals, drowning in a chaotic job market, are turning to AI not out of malice but out of necessity. One TikToker shared how she uses AI to generate sample interview questions, not to cheat, but to prepare. Her video, titled ‘How to use AI to pass ANY interview,’ captures the essence of this generation’s mindset: survival at all costs. When the system is designed to fail you, is it wrong to fight back?
Here’s the real controversy: Companies that fear being duped by AI-assisted candidates are the same ones demanding employees use AI to boost productivity. So, is using AI to get the job any different from using it to do the job? And if the process of getting hired is already a hellish ordeal, why shouldn’t candidates use every tool at their disposal?
What do you think? Is using AI in job interviews unethical, or is it a necessary response to an unfair system? Let’s debate this in the comments—I want to hear your take.
