A growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in job applications risks employers hiring candidates who cannot do the work, a business owner has said.

Advertising boss James Robinson said he and other business leaders were seeing a "real trend" in applicants using generative AI chatbots, and warned that candidates who were good at using the technology could "engineer" the process without being "capable of doing the job".

Careers adviser Megan Cooper said that while AI could be a useful tool for job hunters, it should never replace "human judgement".

A recent survey of more than 2,000 job applicants in the UK found just under half had used AI to help them with the application process.

Mr Robinson, who runs Hello Starling, a Cardiff-based advertising agency, said vacancies at his business were attracting applications that were riddled with AI-generated sentences.

"There are some common sentences that we see. People are always trying to 'leverage their skillset'," he said.

"They're often saying things like 'my skills align with your organisation's objectives and goals'."

He said the chatbot ChatGPT confirmed that these were phrases it was likely to generate for a covering letter.

"[It is] very difficult for me to try and work out who is real, versus which ones are robots," he admitted.

Mr Robinson shared his experiences of receiving AI-generated job applications on LinkedIn and said the responses from other business leaders "really surprised" him.

"I was really, really surprised to receive messages from people saying, 'I'm in exactly the same boat as you. How are we going to tell them apart?'

"You know, 'do we need to be using AI to fight against this and get on top of it?'

"So I think it is a real challenge in itself, but I don't think that I'm alone."

Mr Robinson said however that "appropriate" use of AI could help his business, and that the technology was helping applicants to be more succinct in their applications.

What is AI?

AI allows computers to learn and solve problems in ways that can seem human.

Computers cannot think, empathise or reason, but scientists have developed systems that can perform tasks which usually require human intelligence, trying to replicate how people acquire and use knowledge.

Generative AI is used to create new content which can feel like it has been made by a human. It does this by learning from vast quantities of existing data such as online text and images.

At Cardiff Metropolitan University, careers advisor Megan Cooper said she was trying to steer students through the ethics of using AI as they applied for jobs.

"AI can be used as a tool. It can be used as an aid. It's something that can complement, but absolutely not replace, human judgement," said Ms Cooper.

Ms Cooper said that in many cases, students were responding to an expectation from employers that candidates understood Generative AI and could use it with confidence.

"They don't want to be seen as cheating or getting it wrong in any way at all."

She said the university was encouraging students to understand when it was appropriate to use AI.

"Maybe that's in the research stages of the application process. It might be asking AI to give feedback or help structure their CV.

"Maybe it's asking AI to help read a cover letter that they have already written to help refine it and help it sound a little bit more eloquent."

Ultimately the job interview process required applicants to ensure "what makes them unique is able to shine through", she added.

'It's too much of a risk'

Student Jasmine James, 18, said she was avoiding using AI for her university work.

"I feel like it's too much of a risk, with plagiarism and stuff like that," she said.

"But I can understand why people do use it, because it is a quicker and easier alternative.

"I just feel like the information isn't always correct, so it's best to avoid it for uni work."

Fellow student Jacob Morgan, 19, said he believed AI could be a "really helpful tool".

"I use it a lot, especially instead of Google. Sometimes I'll just search up on AI instead, because you get better results. So it's definitely very useful," he said.

AI technology was "here to stay" and "it's only going to get better and better", he added.

Timothy Mitchell, who is in his second year of studying computer security at Cardiff Metropolitan University, said he believed those who did not use artificial intelligence were "cheating themselves".

"Everybody uses it. Tutors use it, employers use it," he said.

Mr Mitchell accepted there were "definitely some fears" around the wider use of AI, "but I personally believe they are somewhat unfounded".

He added: "What humans are best at is the creative stuff and creating new things. And AI, by principle, can't think beyond what it's been taught."

Generative AI could be used "in a way that aids us rather than replaces us", he added.