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A massive new study has just delivered what we in the industry have known for a while — AI voice recruiters aren’t just “good enough.” They’re outperforming their human counterparts on the metrics that matter most.
Conducted with over 70,000 job applicants by researchers from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Erasmus University Rotterdam, this independent study found that replacing human interviewers with AI voice agents led to:
- 12% more job offers
- 18% more job starts
- 17% better 30-day retention
And when given the choice, 78% of candidates picked the AI recruiter.
Read that again.
This isn’t a whitepaper from a vendor. This is gold-standard, randomized academic research from two of the most respected institutions in business and behavioral economics.
For all the skeptics who’ve claimed AI interviews are cold, robotic, or ineffective — here are the numbers.
This Isn’t Just a Productivity Hack — It’s a Paradigm Shift
For years, the industry consensus has been: “AI is useful for screening, maybe scheduling — but interviews require a human.”
This study didn’t just challenge that assumption — it obliterated it.
AI didn’t just keep up. It beat humans on outcomes recruiters and business leaders actually care about: job starts, retention, fairness, and applicant preference.
The implications are enormous: for how we scale hiring, for what we expect of recruiters, and for how companies differentiate their talent acquisition strategies in a hyper-competitive market.
AI Interviews Lead to Better Hiring Decisions
The researchers dug deep into interview transcripts and found that AI-led interviews were:
- More structured, covering more critical topics
- More information-rich, with responses that had greater linguistic clarity and less filler
- Rated more favorably by human reviewers who made the final hiring decisions
In fact, recruiters scored candidates higher when interviews were conducted by AI — and their qualitative feedback was more positive, too.
Why? Because AI is consistent. It doesn’t skip questions. It doesn’t make snap judgments. It just does the job — thoroughly and fairly — every time.
AI Interviews Are Fairer
This study also confirmed something we’ve long suspected: AI reduces bias.
Reports of gender-based discrimination were nearly cut in half when applicants were interviewed by AI instead of humans.
For organizations serious about DEI, this isn’t just a benefit — it’s a mandate. If you're still relying solely on human screeners, you may be perpetuating inequity at the very first touchpoint in your hiring funnel.
Let’s Talk Trade-offs — Because Transparency Builds Trust
No tech is perfect. This study didn’t pretend otherwise, and neither will we.
- Around 5% of applicants opted out of speaking with AI.
- In 7% of interviews, there were technical issues.
- Recruiters shifted slightly, relying a bit more on standardized test scores when evaluating AI interviews.
- And lower-scoring applicants were slightly more likely to choose AI when given the option.
You know what that tells us? AI interviews may feel less intimidating to people who typically feel judged by recruiters.
That's not a bug — that's a feature.
These aren't reasons to delay adoption. They're opportunities to get ahead, set smart guardrails, and lead.
AI Doesn’t Replace Recruiters — It Redefines Them
Here’s the part the fearmongers get wrong:
AI isn’t here to replace recruiters. It’s here to remove what’s wasting their time.
When AIR handles screening interviews — with consistency, coverage, and clarity — recruiters get to focus on the strategic work: candidate evaluation, coaching, hiring manager alignment, and closing.
AI takes the repetitive. Humans take the high-impact.
Let’s stop pretending it has to be either/or.
Talent Leaders: You’re on the Clock
Let’s recap:
- AI interviews outperform humans across every hiring metric that matters.
- Candidates actually prefer AI
- Recruiters end up trusting AI interviews more than they expected.
- And hiring teams finally get scalable, equitable, data-rich interviews — without adding headcount.
If you’re still relying on human screeners for every first-round interview, ask yourself: why?
Because tradition says so? Because you think candidates will object? (They won’t — 78% of them are already choosing AI when given the chance.) Or because deep down, change is uncomfortable? Let’s be blunt. The data is in. The debate is over. Your hiring strategy is either evolving — or falling behind.
Ready to Transform Your Hiring Process?
Contact Braintrust to learn how AIR can support your growth. Better yet; try it for free today!
