What Candidates Should Expect From an AI Job Interview

What Happens in an AI Job Interview

SHRM reports that HireVue's platform analyzes applicants' responses and speech, and the sources do not show what other tools analyze. The sources also do not show whether a person reviews the result in general. Greenhouse says its own product includes human review on every decision, which is unverified. The Illinois and New York City rules the sources describe require notice, but the sources do not show that either covers every AI interview. Ask the employer these questions before you start:

• Is AI analyzing my answers, and what does it assess?
• Will a person review the result before any decision is made?
• What happens to my recording or transcript, and can I ask for it to be destroyed?
• What notice or consent applies where I live?

What the Software Looks At

The sources show little about what AI interview tools score. Two companies make specific statements.

HireVue, a video-interview company, removed facial analysis from its screening assessments. SHRM's article on HireVue dropping facial analysis reported in early 2021 that the feature was discontinued in March 2020. SHRM reported in February 2021 that HireVue's platform analyzes applicants' responses and speech.

HireVue said, per SHRM, that "visual analysis no longer significantly added value to the assessments." Its CEO, Kevin Parker, said per SHRM the visual components were not "worth the concern it was causing people."

Greenhouse sells an AI interview product. In a blog post on AI interview screening, it advises employers to tell candidates three things upfront: that they are talking with AI, that a person reviews responses before any decision, and what happens to the recording.

Greenhouse makes its own product claims, which are unverified. Greenhouse says Greenhouse Voice AI puts human review on every decision, asks dynamic follow-up questions, keeps full transcripts, and does not score tone, accent or confidence.

Greenhouse also names five traits it says build candidate trust: listening, following up on vague answers, answering candidate questions, allowing time to think, and being upfront about AI and human review. Greenhouse gives its own reasoning for this, with no survey figure behind it: interrupting pauses penalizes non-native speakers and people who think before answering.

What Candidates Say in Greenhouse's Survey

Greenhouse's "2026 Future of Hiring Candidate Report" surveyed more than 2,800 job seekers in the US, UK, Ireland, Germany and Australia. Greenhouse ran the survey itself and sells an AI interview product. The sources reviewed include no independent check of the figures.

Nearly half (48%) of surveyed candidates say they took an AI interview in the past year, and 70% of those say it let them show their skills well. Greenhouse's blog post does not state a country for either figure.

Nine in 10 US candidates say they are open to an AI interview, and 7% would refuse one outright. Candidates were 2.7 times more likely to take an AI interview than to withdraw when no human interviewer was available. Greenhouse's blog post does not state a country for that ratio.

Among US candidates, 49% want to know a human will review their responses, and 40% want to know how they will be evaluated. Advance notice is the most-requested item, at 55%. 88% of US candidates want at least one legal requirement for employer transparency about AI in interviews.

Greenhouse reads its own survey as showing that most candidates object to poor implementation rather than to AI screening as a format.

Illinois and New York City Notice Rules

A state rule and a city rule in the sources require notice. Neither is a general national rule, and the sources reviewed describe no such rule for the rest of the United States or for other countries.

Illinois and AI Video Interviews

The Illinois Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act took effect on January 1, 2020, according to the summaries reviewed. It applies to an employer that asks applicants to record video interviews and analyzes them with AI. As the summaries describe it, the employer must notify you before the interview that AI may be used to analyze the video. It must explain how the AI works and what general types of characteristics it uses to evaluate applicants. It must also obtain your consent, and it may not use AI to evaluate an applicant who has not consented.

You may ask for the video to be destroyed. Access to recordings is limited to people who need them to evaluate you. The summaries say the Act does not define artificial intelligence, and they do not mention whether applicants can sue under it.

The official statute text could not be opened on November 2, 2026, because the Illinois General Assembly site returned a server error. This description comes from law-firm summaries and an AGORA reproduction of the enacted text.

New York City and Automated Employment Decision Tools

New York City Local Law 144 of 2021 covers employers and employment agencies that use an automated employment decision tool. Under the law as summarized in the sources, an employer or agency may not use the tool unless it has had a bias audit within one year of using it.

Information about that audit must be public, and a summary of the results must be posted. Notice must be given 10 business days before the tool is used. The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) began enforcing the law on July 5, 2023, according to its page on automated employment decision tools.

The DCWP page does not say what the notice must contain, and it does not state penalties. The sources reviewed do not say whether a given AI interview tool counts as an automated employment decision tool. The sources therefore do not show what happens to an employer that skips the notice.

How to Prepare for an AI Job Interview

These steps come from the facts above and have not been tested.

1. Ask the four questions listed above before the interview starts, and write down the answers.
2. Note the date you received any notice. New York City's rule requires notice 10 business days before the tool is used, so count back from your interview date to see whether the notice arrived in time. The sources do not say whether the rule covers a given interview tool. The sources do not say what follows if the notice arrived late; the fighting back page covers next steps.
3. Greenhouse says its own product asks dynamic follow-up questions, and the sources do not say whether other tools do.
4. Greenhouse argues that tools should not interrupt pauses, because interruption penalizes people who think before answering. The sources do not say how a given tool treats pauses, so ask.
5. If an employer asks you to record a video interview that AI will analyze, the summaries say the Illinois Act lets you ask for the video to be destroyed. They also say it bars AI evaluation without your consent. The summaries reviewed do not say who counts as covered.

Is an AI Job Interview a Red Flag?

The sources do not show that an AI interview is a warning sign by itself. Greenhouse's survey points to openness about the process: among US candidates, advance notice was the most-requested item, at 55%.

Among US candidates in Greenhouse's survey, 49% want to know a human will review their responses and 40% want to know how they will be evaluated. An employer that gives no notice, no human review and no explanation offers none of what those respondents asked for. Greenhouse advises employers to disclose AI use, human review and what happens to the recording. The absence of human review is harder to judge. The sources describe no legal duty to offer a human review. Asking whether a person reviews the result is a reasonable step.

Our Takeaway

We read Greenhouse's blog post reporting its survey, SHRM's article on HireVue, the New York City DCWP page, and summaries of the Illinois Act. We did not test any interview tool, speak with candidates or employers, or run any analysis of our own. We could not open the Illinois statute text.

If you want to go ahead, the sources support doing so once the employer has said it uses AI, what it assesses and who reviews the result. If the employer has not said, ask those questions first. The Illinois video-interview rule and New York City's automated employment decision tool rule add notice duties only where they cover the interview, and the sources describe no other legal duty. This conclusion would change if the official Illinois Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act text differed from the summaries. It would also change if independent evidence showed what AI interview tools score, or if a rule where you live gives rights these sources do not describe. For the discrimination side of AI hiring, read our explainer on a Workday AI hiring lawsuit. If you want to respond to a hiring decision you think was unfair, see our fighting back section.

This page describes laws as summarized in the sources named above and is not legal advice.