Harnessing AI to combat AI-driven candidate fraud

Candidate fraud is among the most widespread and destructive abuses of AI. Applicants use AI to edit resumes so they match job descriptions, blast employers with applications loaded with misleading or false information and stolen identities -- and even fake their way through job interviews.

Recruiters are struggling to stay ahead of the problem, and HR software vendors have seized the opportunity. Often, the solution is to enlist AI to combat a phenomenon that is primarily made possible by AI.

In this episode of Enterprise Apps Unpacked, Dimitri Boylan, founder and CEO of Avature, explains the nature and extent of candidate fraud, why it's prompting changes in how organizations hire and develop talent, and the ways in which AI can detect fraud and make the recruiting process more secure and reliable. Avature makes a customizable, AI-driven recruiting and talent management platform. It counts 110 of the Fortune 500 companies among its customers.

Reviving traditional hiring methods with AI

At minimum, candidate fraud subjects organizations to the operational and financial risks of hiring people who turn out to lack the skills and competence needed for their jobs. But Boylan said it also presents significant security risks because it makes organizations vulnerable to people with nefarious motives, such as corporate espionage.

The risks also have national security implications, according to Boylan, who said Avature has contracts with government agencies in the U.S. and other countries, some of which oversee critical infrastructure. He said state actors use fraudulent means to infiltrate companies in hopes of creating security vulnerabilities. Though he didn't mention the country by name, numerous reports say North Korea has used the technique against U.S. companies.

Boylan said AI's ability to take over much of the tedium of recruiting will make a big difference in recruiters' ability to detect candidate fraud. "They're trying to shift a lot of administrative tasks to AI so that they can then spend time face-to-face with candidates in a room -- no ChatGPT -- talking to the candidate about their experiences and what they do," he said. "Then they need to get back to a very basic, traditional way of evaluating candidates if they can."

They'll go into those evaluations armed with generative and agentic AI that is transforming hiring assessments. AI never gets tired, so it's not prone to the missed questions and sloppy thinking of hiring managers worn down by the umpteenth interview of a long day. "Some of the conversations that are going on are actually between candidates and agents," Boylan said. "Agents can be very good at generating questions for candidates. You can automate these conversations, and if you do, you can have a lot more conversations." 

Other topics discussed in the podcast include the following:

• How the rise of remote hiring during COVID-19 fueled candidate fraud.
• Other ways that agentic AI can improve the hiring process.
• An overview of the Avature platform.
• The prognosis for candidate fraud.

David Essex is an industry editor who creates in-depth content on enterprise applications, emerging technology and market trends for several Informa TechTarget websites.