The Pros and Cons of AI-Assisted Interviewing

TL;DR

AI-assisted interviewing can:

• Make interview notes objective

• Improve fairness

• Reduce interviewer fatigue

• Create better decision documentation

But it can also:

• Mask shallow reasoning

• Reward memorized or AI-generated answers

• Enable fraud and proxy behavior in remote interviews

The goal is not to replace interviewers.
The goal is to support interviewers while protecting signal integrity.

The Pros

1. More Consistent Evaluation

AI can ensure interviewers ask:

• The same core questions

• In the same structured order

• With the same follow-up criteria

This reduces:

• Personality bias

• Accent bias

• Confidence bias

Real World Example

A global engineering team found that after switching to structured AI-scaffolded interviews:

• Variance in interviewer scoring dropped

• Calibration meetings became shorter

• Hiring decisions became faster and more defensible

2. Better Notes and Documentation

AI note-takers capture:

• Candidate answers verbatim

• Key decision points

• How the candidate reasons through problems

This helps:

• Panel debriefs

• Audit reviews

• Candidate reconsideration requests

Without AI

Notes often look like:

Good communicator
Knows AWS
Seems confident

With AI

Notes look like:

Candidate selected message queue to decouple services due to variable load. Considered retry behavior and idempotency. Chose at-least-once delivery based on business requirements

This is actual evaluation.

3. Reduced Interviewer Fatigue

Interviewers can focus on:

• Listening for reasoning

• Asking the right follow-ups

instead of:

• Typing

• Remembering prompts

• Managing a call while evaluating

This improves interviewer performance quality.

Real World Example

A SaaS company reduced one interviewer rotation per day and lowered burnout in technical hiring pods.

The Cons

1. AI Can Mask Shallow Understanding

If a candidate uses AI to:

• Generate answers

• Follow scripts

• Rehearse system design patterns

They may appear strong while lacking real skill.

Real World Example

A fintech hired five engineers who aced interviews using AI for rehearsed system design answers.
Within 60 days:

• One could not debug staging crashes

• Two could not modify their own code

• Two required coaching on basic architecture reasoning

This cost money, time, and team trust.

Sherlock detects this using reasoning adaptability checks.

2. Risk of Proxy or Fraudulent Participation

Remote interviews make it easier for:

• Another person to answer for the candidate

• AI to whisper live solutions

• Deepfake voice or face to spoof identity

Real World Example

A BPO team discovered 12 percent of offshore candidates were receiving live coaching via a second device during interviews.

Sherlock flags:

• Voice identity mismatch

• Facial continuity breaks

• Background conversation patterns

3. Over-Reliance on Confidence and Fluency

AI can help candidates:

• Speak smoothly

• Structure narratives

• Use professional language

But fluency is not competence.

Signal Correction

Ask a constraint shift question:

If input size doubles, what changes in your solution?

Authentic engineers adapt.
AI-fed narratives collapse.

How to Use AI Correctly in Interviews

AI should support evaluation, not substitute for it.

How Sherlock AI Fits

Sherlock AI provides:

• Real-time identity confidence

• Reasoning authenticity signals

• Code authorship verification

• Coaching and whisper detection

This allows companies to:

• Allow fair AI use (for planning and clarity)

• Prevent unfair or fraudulent AI use (for answer substitution)

The result:

• High signal

• Low bias

• High trust

• Audit safety

Conclusion

AI-assisted interviewing is not inherently good or bad.
It is powerful.
If used without guardrails, it can break hiring.
If used carefully, it improves:

• Fairness

• Accuracy

• Candidate experience

• Hiring manager confidence

The key is:

Evaluate reasoning, not output.
Verify identity, not confidence.

AI helps with both, when configured correctly.