When AI Fakes the Interview—What That Means for the Future of Hiring

You know that saying, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression”?
Well… turns out, some job seekers are letting AI make that first impression for them.

Yep, we’ve officially hit the era where fake candidates—powered by AI—are applying for (and sometimes landing) remote jobs without ever showing up as their real selves. Wild, right?

A recent CNBC article uncovered just how deep this goes. Think deepfakes in interviews, ChatGPT crafting resumes from scratch, even AI-generated voice responses that mimic a human in real-time. It’s basically a sci-fi movie… except it’s happening right now.

The Fake Ivan That Fooled Tech Leaders

Here’s one jaw-dropping example: a guy applying for a senior engineer role at a cybersecurity firm used AI to completely fabricate his identity.
He went by “Ivan X,” looked good on paper, nailed the video interview… but something was off. His lips didn’t match his words. A little uncanny valley moment.

Turns out, “Ivan” was using a deepfake video with a voice filter—interviewing live with zero credentials to back it up. 😳 And that’s just one of many cases popping up across tech hiring.

So What’s the Real Problem Here?

If people can fake their way into roles, especially remote ones, what happens to trust in hiring? What happens to your team’s security, your intellectual property, your culture?

It’s not just a “weird tech story”—it’s a wake-up call.

Gartner even predicts that by 2028, 1 in 4 job seekers might be using AI to misrepresent themselves. That’s not a future problem—it’s a this week problem.

How We Can Keep Hiring Human (Even With AI in the Mix)

Here’s where things get hopeful. We’re not powerless. In fact, we have a huge opportunity to rethink how we assess talent in a world where anything can be faked.

Let’s make hiring more human, not less.

Here are a few ways companies (and platforms like ours at Bettabite) are keeping it real:

1. Face-to-Face, Still Matters
   Even in remote interviews, we’re pushing for more natural conversations, live problem-solving, and camera-on interactions. Real humans shine when the pressure’s real.

2. Skill-Based Hiring > Resume Buzzwords
   We don’t care if ChatGPT wrote your resume. Show us how you think, how you grow, and what your actual skill journey looks like.

3. Consistent, Structured Interviewing
   AI-generated candidates might slip through free-form chats, but structured interviews + visual skill charts (hey there, Bettabite 😉) make it way easier to spot what’s authentic and what’s fluff.

4. Feedback, Transparency, and Tracking
   When candidates can see where they are in the process—and employers can track growth over time—we create accountability and clarity on both sides.

Bottom Line

Fake candidates might be using AI to game the system—but that just means it’s time for the system to evolve. And that’s exactly what we’re doing here at Bettabite.

We believe in resumes that can’t be faked. In applications that reflect your real-time skill growth. In hiring tools that celebrate you, not your prompt-engineering.

Because the future of hiring? It’s not just smarter.
It’s more human.