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\t\t\tIllustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins \/ Futurism. Source: Getty Images\n\t<\/p>\n
Thanks to scores of competing AI systems<\/a> clogging up online application portals, applying for a new job in 2026 can feel more like applying for a bank loan than seeking a job.<\/p>\n At least, that\u2019s what a group of disgruntled job seekers is claiming in a lawsuit against an AI screening company called Eightfold AI. According to the New York Times<\/a>, the plaintiffs allege that Eightfold\u2019s employment screening software should be subjected to the Fair Credit Reporting Act<\/a> \u2014 the regulations protecting information collected by consumer credit bureaus.<\/p>\n The reason, they say, can be found deep within Eightfold\u2019s AI algorithm, which actively trolls LinkedIn to create a data set of \u201c1 million job titles, 1 millions skills, and the profiles of more than 1 billion people working in every job, profession, industry, and geography.\u201d That data set, in turn, is used in marketing material<\/a> to help sell its services to potential clients.<\/p>\n Using an AI model trained on that data, plaintiffs say, Eightfold scores job applications on a scale of one to five, based on their skills, experience, and the hiring manager\u2019s goals. In sum, their argument is that it\u2019s not at all unlike the opaque rules used to govern consumer credit scores.<\/p>\n In the case of Eightfold, however, applicants have no way of knowing what their final score even is, let alone the steps the system took to come up with it. That creates a \u201cblack box\u201d: a situation where the people subjected to an algorithmic decision can only see the system\u2019s outcome<\/a>, not the process that led to it. And if Eightfold\u2019s AI starts making things up on the fly \u2014 an issue AI models are infamous for<\/a> \u2014 the job seeker has no way of knowing.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also the issue of data retention. With no way to take a peek under the hood, there\u2019s no telling how much data from job applicants\u2019 r\u00e9sum\u00e9s Eightfold collects, or what the AI company and its clients are doing with it.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I deserve to know what\u2019s being collected about me and shared with employers,\u201d Erin Kistler, one of the plaintiffs told the NYT. \u201cAnd they\u2019re not giving me any feedback, so I can\u2019t address the issues.\u201d<\/p>\n Kistler, who has decades of experience working in computer science, told the publication she\u2019s kept a close score of every application she\u2019s sent over the last year. Out of \u201cthousands of jobs\u201d she\u2019s applied for, only 0.3 percent moved on to a follow-up or interview, she said.<\/p>\n It all underscores the sad state of the job market, which has become the stuff of dystopian nightmares thanks to AI hiring tools<\/a>. Whether the lawsuit can gain enough momentum to challenge the massive legal grey area<\/a> of AI hiring remains to be seen. If it does, it could bring relief to throngs of despondent job seekers whose careers quite literally hang in the balance.<\/p>\n Eightfold AI didn\u2019t respond to the NYT\u2018s request for comment.<\/p>\n