Examining the role of ChatGPT in online assessments

OpenAI's ChatGPT represents a significant breakthrough in natural language processing and reasoning. ChatGPT is a generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) system trained on enormous data sets. This advanced system surpasses traditional AI text capabilities, allowing it to generate responses to user prompts.

When it comes to recruitment, candidates using ChatGPT have obvious advantages. Whether it's tailor-made resumes specific to the job description or using it to complete assessments, ChatGPT offers many benefits.

OpenAI has trained ChatGPT on a vast amount of human knowledge and data. ChatGPT can create original sentences and code with access to billions of source materials, much like an average human. The tool can learn from user prompts and uses context-sensitive information to provide optimal results, mimicking the human brain.

This opens up endless possibilities for content creation and language-based tasks. Additionally, it has been trained to respond to even the most specific and niche questions with accuracy.

Candidates using ChatGPT improve their chances of getting selected during an interview. However, with the support of ChatGP:

1. Interviews will lose their authenticity

Candidates can use ChatGPT to obtain answers to important questions. This is especially true in cases of remote interviews where the lack of online proctoring or supervision can give the candidates using ChatGPT undue advantage. As a result, the authenticity of interviews gets reduced.

2. Resumes and cover letters will be near-perfect

The use of ChatGPT can significantly improve the quality of resumes and cover letters. It will eliminate the number of grammar and typographical errors. Furthermore, the resumes would be a perfect match to the job description. Consequently, the average ATS rating of all such resumes will be high.

Similarly, cover letters created by AI chatbots would be near perfect. Eventually, this would make judging the candidate based on their cover letter and resume difficult, leading to bad hires.

3. Assessments will take a hit

Almost all jobs require candidates to undergo an assessment. It is done to judge their skills. But the accuracy of the test results will decrease if the candidate uses ChatGPT. For instance, Chat GPT can write small to medium-length essays with almost zero errors in a matter of seconds. The writing samples created will not reflect the candidate's actual writing ability. Similarly, candidates can use ChatGPT for coding assessments, reducing the credibility of the assessments.

Overall, the use of ChatGPT by applicants will have a harmful impact on recruitment. It will increase the chances of hiring a candidate that lacks the required skills and has used AI to clear the interviews and assessments. Apart from the abovementioned points, AI chatbots will disrupt diversity hiring, as candidates from the diverse background may have limited access to technology, leaving them at a disadvantage. Their resumes and assessments are bound to score low in comparison to resume’s created by ChatGPT.

As chatbots continue to evolve, organizations must take steps to address their impact. Specific measures can help mitigate potential issues and ensure that chatbots are used responsibly. For instance, ChatGPT uses almost-perfect, error-free language, including grammar, typos, and spelling. Recruiters should be wary of these signs. Cover letters that follow similar patterns, and language that matches every keyword in the job description too closely, are likely to have been generated using ChatGPT and should be treated with caution.

Regarding assessments, a certain percentage of candidates may use ChatGPT, impacting its integrity. Organizations can use AI content detection software to detect AI-generated content and counter this. For assessments, recruiters can use Mercer | Mettl’s Secure Exam Browser, with a suite of anti-cheating measures. It locks the system, and any additional software is disabled. It also allows the hiring team to safelist sites and software that candidates can access. Similarly, organizations can use Mercer | Mettl's Online Interview Platform for remote interviews. Again, it comes with anti-cheating measures, ensuring the integrity of the interview.

Employers are increasingly using strategies and technologies to detect AI-driven tools. The two main components of ensuring integrity during assessments are plagiarism detection and proctoring solutions.

Right tools

With remote interviews and assessments becoming the norm, ensuring candidates don't use AI chatbots can be difficult. However, organizations can overcome this challenge using secure browsers and online interview platforms. Both tools ensure that candidates can access only the software and sites that the interviewer finds reliable and necessary.

Mercer | Mettl’s is a leading provider of both an online interview platform and a secure browser. Mercer | Mettl’s Secure Exam Browser and Online Interview Platform come with advanced anti-cheating measures. It ensures that candidates cannot take advantage of AI chatbots or any other tool.

Proctoring solutions

To ensure assessment integrity, developing systems with the appropriate proctoring capabilities is crucial. For example, a proctored exam utilizes tech-enabled monitoring software to supervise a test-taker from start to finish to prevent cheating.

Mercer | Mettl's SecureProctor is a leading tool that can be used to ensure assessment integrity. It utilizes advanced technology to monitor candidate behavior, like multi-factor authentication technology to reduce the chances/instances of student impersonations. The secure browser lockdown technology sanitizes students' computers by disabling additional tabs, browsers, external ports, etc. A comprehensive human-based and AI-based proctoring technology ensures live proctoring, auto proctoring, and record and review proctoring. With Mercer | Mettl's proctoring solution, employers can be confident that they are evaluating candidates based on their skills and abilities.

ChatGPT can be a boon or a bane when it comes to recruitment. Candidates who use ChatGPT can easily masquerade as experts in their profession and come across as ideal hires. Overindulgence in ChatGPT can eventually lead to a larger number of hiring failures and poor-performing new hires. To avoid this, hiring professionals should continually learn about ChatGPT and use tools to prevent its negative impact on recruiting.