Technology & innovation
Job seekers who "aren’t who they say they are" present a new and growing threat to U.S. employers, according to a new report by Gartner.
According to Gartner, 1 in 4 job candidates "will be fake" by 2028.
Fake job candidates are taking advantage of new AI tools to "fabricate photo IDs, generate employment histories" and even to "provide answers during interviews."
AI-generated candidate profiles that ultimately result in an "imposter" getting hired for a role present a significant threat to employers, given that such an individual can then wreak havoc.
Once hired, an impostor can install malware to demand a ransom from a company, or steal its customer data, trade secrets or funds."
Employers say AI-generated candidates often stand out, appearing to "have all the right qualifications" for the role in question. One firm flagged a candidate only because a recruiter "noticed that [his] facial expressions were slightly out of sync with his words."
Companies hiring for remote roles are "valuable targets for bad actors," according to experts.
In May 2024, the Department of Justice announced that, beginning in 2020, a group of "overseas IT workers" perpetrated a "coordinated scheme to conduct remote work for U.S. companies." Using stolen identities of U.S. nationals, the workers "applied for remote jobs in the United States" and "obtained jobs at hundreds of U.S. companies." Those overseas IT workers, the government alleges, were "imposters" with ties to North Korea.
According to experts, the "fake employee industry has broadened" and now includes "criminal groups located in Russia, China, Malaysia and South Korea."
Cybersecurity experts are working to keep up, utilizing "identity-verification" tools to “weed out fake candidates.”
Read more via CNBC, LinkedIn
Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke told the organization they should not make new hires without first exploring whether the work can be done with AI.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the details of a memo by Lütke outlining new expectations with respect to AI at Shopify.
Shopify employees are "now required to integrate artificial intelligence into teamwork." The memo asked employees to consider, "What would this area look like if autonomous AI agents were already part of the team?”
The organization "won’t make new hires unless managers can prove artificial intelligence isn’t capable of doing the job," according to the Journal. Lütke wrote: "Before asking for more Headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI.”
The memo further referenced that "employees would be questioned on their AI usage in their performance reviews, though the memo didn’t say whether the company’s AI philosophy would lead to layoffs."
Read more via The Wall Street Journal
A new survey by Resume Now suggests that "while AI adoption is skyrocketing," many workers are “struggling to navigate unclear company policies.”
Highlights from Resume Now's survey of 1,000 U.S. workers:
66% of respondents say they "use employer-provided AI tools" at work, while "23% use both company and personal AI tools" at work.
57% of workers say they use AI "in ways that may violate company policies."
Despite 98% of respondents saying their organization "provides AI guidelines," just 50% of workers say "their employer's AI compliance guidelines are very clear."
43% of respondents say they would like additional training on “how to use AI effectively.”
Read more via Resume Now
DOGE is “using artificial intelligence to surveil at least one federal agency’s communications for hostility to President Donald Trump and his agenda," according to allegations made by sources to Reuters. Reuters noted that if the sources allegations are, in fact, accurate, “the surveillance would mark an extraordinary use of technology to identify expressions of perceived disloyalty in a workforce.” (Reuters)
More than a quarter of Canadians say AI systems are "reliable" sources of information, according to the annual CanTrust Index. 28% of Canadians "consider artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT reliable sources of information." (That jumps to 41% with respect to Gen Z-ers.) Younger men, in particular, have a "high level of trust in search results from large language models and platforms like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini," according to the data, with 54% believing AI systems are reliable. 36% of Millennials, 27% of Gen Xers and just 14% of Canadian Baby Boomers said they "trusted search results from AI systems." (The Canadian Press)
The European Commission is looking to "lighten the AI compliance burden for startups." According to Reuters, the Commission will be asking for feedback on how it can "help lighten the regulatory burden for startups struggling to comply with European Union rules on the use of artificial intelligence." European businesses have long voiced complaints about the "volume and cost of red tape hampering their operations." (Reuters)
Google has announced "expanded" offerings when it comes to AI agents. Google says its new "Agent Development Kit" (ADK) will allow organizations to more quickly create and deploy "multi-agent systems." Using ADK, users can build AI agents using "under 100 lines of intuitive code”. Beyond ADK, Google also announced Agent Engine, a "dashboard" solution" that "allows organizations to go from concept to training to eventual production" while handling “agent context, infrastructure management, scaling complexities, security, evaluation and monitoring.” (Venture Beat)
KPMG says its new AI bot has freed up thousands of hours for talent acquisition team. Kai, KPMG's new AI assistant, was launched a year ago and has "already cut the time it takes for hiring managers to schedule interviews with job applicants by roughly 58%, dropping from one hour to just 25 minutes," according to Sandy Torchia, KPMG's vice chair of talent and culture. The bot answers inquiries from job candidates, offering answers to "basic questions about benefits, hours, or details about the hiring process" and even doing so "after hours." KPMG maintains that the firm "still prefers to screen all candidates manually" and choices as to "who gets an interview" are still made "through traditional methods." (Fortune)
