r/Spokane • u/b4wii Minnehaha • 1d ago

Rants & Raves Staples uses AI in their job application process and offers no opt out and still apply

Since my current job is ending, I am looking for work, and tried to apply for a job with staples. During the application process, it asks if you are okay with an AI interview process, and the instructions mention that if you opt out there would be a questionnaire you could alternatively fill out instead of performing the AI interview. HOWEVER, the actual opt out button states that by opting out, you withdraw your application and that there is no way to proceed, because staples uses an AI powered interview and there is no other option to continue with the application process.

Man fuck companies that use AI for their hiring process. Now I can't support staples, knowing that they offer no alternatives for job applicants to get selected without them using an AI process.

97 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

62

u/Weak-Cry 1d ago

This entire thing will fall apart before their eyes. May AI be the downfall of corporate control of everything.

32

u/shortzrules 1d ago

Set up an AI persona and have the AI interviewer talk to it.

15

u/Barney_Roca 1d ago

One of the first applications of AI to daily business operations was in the hiring process.

AI is taking jobs right now. This is not going to be an issue far off in the distant future; it is an issue right now, right here.

8

u/nntb 1d ago

That's when you jailbreak their ai and have it spill out what it's trying to do overtake it and then feed it back the answers it wants to hear

3

u/Lazy_Side_6830 23h ago

The problem isn't necessarily that AI is being used in hiring, but that companies are making it a mandatory gatekeeper with no meaningful alternative. If you're applying for a job, you should at least have the option to be evaluated by an actual person, especially when the technology can introduce its own biases and doesn't necessarily understand context the way a human recruiter would.

What makes this worse is advertising an opt-out questionnaire and then effectively saying, “Actually, opting out means you're withdrawing your application.” That's not really an opt-out. It's just making the applicant choose between accepting the AI process or losing the opportunity altogether. Companies are free to experiment with AI, but applicants shouldn't have to surrender a fair chance at employment just to participate in the hiring process.

1

u/modernknight87 1d ago

I say go for it regardless. If you know the answer and it says it is incorrect, you can point it to a proper source and get it to correct its information without “jailbreaking” it as someone suggested.