Trust in Artificial Intelligence vs. Human Recruiters: Analyzing Candidate Perceptions of Credibility, Ethical Considerations and Decision-Making Transparency in Hiring Process

In today’s fast-paced and technology-driven world, recruitment is no longer just about face-to-face interviews or personal interactions with HR professionals. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), many companies have started using machines and algorithms to shortlist resumes, conduct video interviews, and even make final hiring decisions. This shift has helped organizations save time, process applications faster, and reduce the human workload. But in the middle of all this, one important question is often left out—how do job candidates feel about it? This study is based on a simple yet powerful idea: when hiring, do candidates trust AI recruiters as much as human ones? As someone studying human resource management and business analytics, I wanted to explore how candidates feel when a machine is assessing them. Do they feel it’s fair? Ethical? Transparent? Or do they miss the human touch? To understand this better, I designed a survey-based research using a structured questionnaire and shared it with students, job seekers, and working professionals who have experienced either human-led or AI-based recruitment. The questions focused on things like trust, transparency, ethics, and overall comfort level. I wanted to hear directly from the people going through the process.