Many HR and legal professionals have started using AI (including ChatGPT) to increase efficiencies in their role. There are various ways in which AI tools can be utilised, including during recruitment, for resolving employee issues and improving engagement and retention. As AI continues to develop, it is likely to become more prevalent in the workplace and many businesses are considering deploying AI systems to benefit their workforce (see our previous article here for some ideas on how you might be able to use AI in your role).


We’ve all seen the horror stories of where use of AI can lead to embarrassing outcomes. We all remember the story of the US lawyer who used ChatGPT to prepare a court filing, only to discover that some of the citations were entirely fabricated. Aside from the regulatory issues, fines and mortification that can result from these instances of AI misuse, it suggests that AI can be and is used (albeit not very successfully in this case) to further legal outcomes, both on behalf of and against employers.


But it’s not just legal teams or employers who have caught on. Earlier this year, a news story broke in the UK about an individual – who reputedly had various disabilities - who used AI to apply for over 4,600 jobs and, if the company did not comply with his request for job criteria before his interview, he would bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal for disability discrimination. Although not always successful, it is said that he has won £35,000 in settlements over the past five years.


And it’s not just the recruitment space that is being infiltrated by AI – it’s becoming increasingly common to see ChatGPT grievances and AI appeals.


This is a cautionary tale for employers. Hopefully, this serial job applicant story is an extreme case, but as AI technology continues to develop, more and more people will use AI tools to apply for jobs, prepare for interviews and even bring claims.


In this ever-changing world, it is going to become increasingly important for HR teams and managers to be able to spot AI generated content. AI is notorious for failing to accurately create images of people’s hands in AI generated images, but unfortunately identifying AI use in other contexts can be very tricky. For employers, they may want to watch out for AI generated grievance letters, sick notes, job applications, and much more. To give some initial pointers of how to recognise AI, here are some key giveaways that an application or grievance is AI generated:

  • Unusual metadata: If you look at the metadata behind the document, does it look normal? Often AI generated documents have atypical metadata.
  • Formatting inconsistencies: Does the document have strange formatting (i.e. different fonts, sizes, indents)? This can suggest the document may have been AI generated.
  • Lack of style or appropriate tone: AI generated text is usually easy to spot because it often lacks style, tone and personality.
  • Is the style of language different to how the individual would normally write, for example do they use US (rather than UK) spellings?


AI will continue to be the biggest news story in the months and years to come and it continues to hit the employment sphere. We expect to continue to see stories of AI blunders, but as we become more familiar with AI and the technology improves, it is going to start to have a real impact on the way businesses operate, and we recommend that businesses try to keep an eye out for anything unusual.