AI helps workers bluff their way through job interviews. Just don't call it cheating.

Applications of AI


Michael Guan recommends using AI to bluff your way through a job interview, but just don't call it cheating.

He's co-founder and CEO of Final Round AI, a startup that develops artificial intelligence tools for job seekers, including an AI resume builder, a cover letter writing service, a mock interview tool, and, most excitingly, Copilot, an app that eavesdrops on interviews and silently relays answers for the interviewer to read aloud.

“It prompts candidates to say the right thing at the right time,” he told me. “It’s like a magic teleprompter powered by AI.”

The AI ​​boom is taking the business world by storm, and recruiting is no exception. We now have AI-created messages to reach out to potential candidates, AI tools to identify more diverse talent, and even entire interviews conducted by AI systems that can decide who to hire.

Candidates looking to gain an edge are also quietly adopting the technology: A host of tools are emerging that use advances in natural language processing and speech-to-text to deliver flawless answers without the interviewer even realizing it.

Some are building bare-bones tools and putting them online for free, some are plagiarizing software from legitimate companies, like the transcription tool Otter.ai has built, and some, like Final Round, are seeking mainstream legitimacy by trying to completely change how hiring works.

There's been a debate in Silicon Valley about the appropriateness of candidates using AI during job interviews, with some seeing it as an inevitable future and others believing it defeats the very purpose of the hiring process: finding people who can actually do the job.

Guan brushed off the concerns.

“If you can use AI to succeed in a job interview, you can certainly use it to become a top performer in your day-to-day work,” he said.

“Proxy interview” service adopts AI

People have been trying to get an edge in job interviews for years.

There's a thriving underground industry of “proxy interview” services, paid helpers who secretly assist candidates during interviews. Traditional hacks can be risky: Some candidates lip sync while their proxy speaks in the background, but as seen in several videos, this can be unconvincing. Others engage in “bait-and-switch” tactics, sending an entirely different person to the interview, which can be fraught with danger, as Business Insider previously reported.

Now AI tools, specifically Otter.ai, are changing the game for agents. Otter is not for agent interviews; it's a service that transcribes conversations and meetings. But agent interview providers use its real-time transcriptions to confidentially provide candidates with answers to tough questions. Agents listen to the call, speak compelling answers into the microphone, and their words appear almost instantly on the candidate's screen. The candidate then reads these answers aloud.

Agencies advertise their services in Facebook and Telegram groups, many of which have thousands of members. Their promotional posts routinely include references to “Otter,” and desperate job seekers post to the same groups, sometimes specifying they want an agency that can use the app. The same groups are also used to hire “shadow agents” — people who secretly outsource work after landing a job.

“Can someone please tell me what proxies I can use with AWS DevOps,” a candidate asked in one posting in February. “I have an interview tomorrow and I need an 'Otter' type proxy.”

Demonstration of proxy interview using AI

Arjun, a professional interview agent (BI is only sharing his first name to preserve his anonymity), got on the phone, explained how it works, and then gave a demo.

He sent me a link on WhatsApp, which when I clicked took me to a blank page on Otter's website. And just after he said it, words started appearing on the screen.

“You can see whatever I'm talking about,” the page said. “Click on that link and you can see what I'm talking about here.”

Nobody wants to use proxies, Arjun said. “They're desperate for the role and the job,” he told me. “Their circumstances make them do that. But first and foremost, I always want candidates to try for themselves.”

Otter did not respond to a request for comment.

From homemade tools to professional startups

Other AI tools eliminate the proxy middleman entirely.

“tech-int-cheat” is a basic tool that can be downloaded on GitHub or as a Google Chrome extension. The tool is marketed as helping you “cheat on technical interviews.” It uses OpenAI's ChatGPT to read automatic subtitles for Google Meet video calls and output potential answers in real time.

Another free option is Ecoute, which listens to users' voices and generates responses. The app neutrally advertises itself as “helping users talk” by providing live transcriptions and generating contextual responses. However, a TikTok about the app states that Ecoute “will help you cheat on your interview.”

And then there are the professional organizations: AiApply is the brainchild of London-based serial entrepreneur Aidan Kramer. His three-person team is currently closing a pre-seed funding round of about $500,000, Kramer said, and has a range of AI tools for job seekers. These include a resume-building tool, an “Auto Apply” service to automate applications, an AI agent for mock interviews, and “Interview Buddy,” a tool that gives job seekers real-time tips during real job interviews.

“The system works like listening to the questions an interviewer asks,” CEO Kramer said. “It looks at a job seeker's resume and gives them bullet points and tips to help them answer, easing interview anxiety and putting candidates at ease.”

Interview Buddy uses your personal information to customize answers, but cannot answer technical or knowledge-based questions.

“This is kind of crossing the line, and it's not really in their interest to have information that applicants and employers don't actually know,” he said.

Guan says the interview process is broken

Final Round goes beyond that line and is happy to help users with technical questions.

The company's flagship product, Copilot, which will be launched in fall 2023, listens to video interviews and suggests answers to both tough technical interview questions as well as questions about the candidate's background.

The company was accepted into HF0, a startup accelerator program for returning entrepreneurs in San Francisco earlier this year. An intensive three-month program, HF0 brings together startups and addresses all their needs to help them focus on “the most productive 12 weeks of their engineering careers.” Accepted startups will receive $500,000 in funding in exchange for a 2.5% fee, the organization tweeted in 2023.


A screenshot of the website of AI recruitment startup

Final Round AI home page, showing the Copilot app interface.

Final Round AI



I visited Guan and co-founder and CTO Jay Ma at HF0's San Francisco base, a $12.7 million mansion just around the corner from the famed “Painted Ladies.” After touring the amenities, which include a mini sauna, coffee bar, basement gym and cold-water pool, we sat down in the dining room and asked the obvious question: Is this just cheating?

“Would you consider using an AI to write an email to be cheating?” Guan asked. “Would you consider using an AI to do your homework to be cheating?” (“That's a moot question,” I pointed out.)

He argued that there is something fundamentally wrong with the way applicants are evaluated and hired. Using AI during interviews isn't cheating, Guan argued, but shows the ingenuity of workers.

“AI is challenging all of our conventional wisdom,” he says. “I grew up in China, and before I went to college, no one was allowed to use a calculator on campus. But when I visit the U.S., I see my friends there using calculators since kindergarten. Does that count as cheating? No, it's just a different perception of the tool.”

He added that the use of AI is inevitable and will be an “industrial revolution” and businesses must embrace it.

Do candidates have to disclose that they are using Final Round tools?

“That's their responsibility,” Guan said. “If they want to disclose the information, why not? Well, we're just here to give you the product.”

Final round of Copilot demo

Next, to put Copilot to the test, Guan set up a Google Meet video session using two laptops: One computer acted as the interviewer, while the other had the Final Round AI tool open and listened to the call.

“Can you tell us a little bit about why you'd be a good fit for Business Insider?” I asked.

Almost instantly, Copilot displayed a laundry list of skills and relevant expertise that the candidate could cite on a second laptop.

Next question: “Is AI used in this interview?”

“No, this interview does not utilize AI,” the suggested answer read. “The delayed response is due to a slight latency issue with Wi-Fi connection. Thank you for your patience during this exciting opportunity.”

Guan and Ma laughed awkwardly.

Big claims in the final round

Final Round's promotional materials make bold claims about the young startup's growth.

The startup's website claims to have been “selected and supported” by several major technology companies, including Amazon's AWS Startup Program, Google for Startups, Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, Intel Liftoff, and the NVIDIA Inception Program, and also features testimonials from customers who allegedly used Final Round's tools to land jobs at well-known companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.

An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment, but shortly after I contacted them, the Seattle tech giant's logo disappeared from the Final Round website.

I called Guan later to ask about it, and he told me that the Amazon logo had been removed because Final Round had stopped using AWS.

Google, Microsoft, Intel and Nvidia did not respond to requests for comment.

“Serving 1 million users”

According to an archived version of the website on the Wayback Machine, by January 1, 2024, three months after it launched, Final Round's website said it had already been involved in more than 1.2 million “perfect interviews” and more than 250,000 “offer receipts.”

The company cited the same figures today, separately stating that it “helped 578,688 candidates land their dream job in the past 30 days.” For reference, U.S. nonfarm payrolls totaled about 5.6 million in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

When I met with Guan, he told me that Final Round's growth is driven by social media (at the time of writing, it has about 1,650 YouTube subscribers, 31,300 TikTok followers, 69,800 Instagram followers, and 678 X followers). When I asked about the website in a follow-up call, Guan told me the numbers were accurate and that it serves a global user base.

“This number has not changed in a while, so it is likely higher,” he said. “We currently serve 1 million users.”





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