Looking for a job is stressful enough without having to face an AI interviewer that glitches mid-sentence or repeats corporate buzzwords on loop. But that’s exactly what a growing number of jobseekers are encountering—and documenting—on TikTok, where videos of awkward, unsettling interactions with AI-powered interview bots are quickly going viral.
@its_ken04 It was genuinely so creepy and weird. Please stop trying to be lazy and have AI try to do YOUR JOB!!! It gave me the creeps so bad #fyp ♬ original sound – Its Ken
The trend sits in a strange space between satire and reality. Some of the most widely shared videos are clearly jokes or parodies, poking fun at the robotic nature of automated hiring. But others appear to be very real—and unsettling. A recent Slate report detailed several such cases, including a now-viral interview posted by Kendiana Colin, who applied for a role at a stretching studio only to be interviewed by an AI bot that couldn’t stop saying the phrase “vertical-bar pilates.”
@leohumpsalot Replying to @Sam I Am Still in shock but hey it’s a vibe I guess #fyp #jobs #jobsearch #ai ♬ original sound – Leo Humps
“It was very disrespectful and a waste of time,” Colin told Slate, summing up a feeling that resonates with many jobseekers who’ve faced these bots. Another video making the rounds shows a different AI interviewer caught in a loop of saying phrases like “when, when, when” and “let’s circle back”—highlighting just how absurd and dehumanizing the process can feel.
Whether real or satirical, these videos strike a nerve. The fact that so many viewers struggle to tell the difference between a parody and the actual experience speaks volumes about how AI is reshaping recruitment—and not necessarily for the better. In some cases, the videos are meant to be fake, posted by accounts that clearly label themselves as satirical. Yet even those exaggerations are often only a few degrees removed from reality.
Part of the reason this is gaining traction online is that companies are actively selling AI hiring solutions. One example cited by Slate is Apriora, the startup responsible for the interview bot in the pilates video. These services are marketed as time-saving tools for businesses, but from a candidate’s perspective, they can come across as cold, buggy, and ultimately dismissive.
@sebwhatseb ..did an AI just get hired? #fyp #interview #ai ♬ original sound – Sebastian
TikTok, with its massive Gen Z and millennial user base, has become the perfect outlet to share and mock these experiences. Scrolling through related hashtags reveals dozens of clips that highlight how detached and strange the AI hiring process can feel—whether real, embellished, or fabricated.
While AI-driven tools can streamline parts of the hiring pipeline, the viral backlash suggests a growing skepticism about how far automation should go—especially when it affects something as personal and consequential as a job interview. For jobseekers already navigating a system full of ghosted applications and opaque rejection processes, adding an emotionless, glitch-prone AI bot to the mix feels like just one more hurdle—and not a particularly dignified one.
So, the next time you hit “apply,” just be prepared: the interviewer on the other end might not be human—and if TikTok is any indication, it might not even make sense.
