What is an AI interview? Video, voice, chat and game formats explained

The short answer

An AI interview is a hiring step where software asks the questions, records your answers, or does both. Sometimes a recruiter watches or reads everything later. Sometimes the software also sorts or scores the answers before a person looks at them. From your side, the biggest difference is that nobody reacts while you talk.

They are now common. In a May 2026 survey by Greenhouse, 63% of US job seekers said they had been interviewed by an AI, 13 points more than six months earlier. In the same survey, 70% said they were not clearly told up front that AI would evaluate them, and 21% found out only after the interview had started. If the invitation surprised you, that is the usual experience.

The main formats

Most AI interviews take one of five shapes. Once you know which one you have, the rest of the process is easier to predict.

• In a one-way (pre-recorded) video interview, a question appears on screen, a short countdown runs and your camera records the answer. Each answer usually has a time limit, and some platforms allow a set number of retakes. Nobody is on the other end while you speak; people, software or both review the recordings later.
• An AI video or voice interviewer asks questions in real time with a computer-generated voice, sometimes with an animated face, and can follow up on what you said. It is closer to a conversation, though the pauses and turn-taking feel different from talking with a person.
• An AI phone screen is a call you receive or book, in which an AI voice asks about your availability, your experience, why you applied and sometimes your salary expectations. It often replaces a recruiter's first call.
• A chat screener is a chatbot on the careers page or in a messaging app that asks screening questions in text: location, right to work, shifts, basic experience. High-volume employers use them most.
• A game-based assessment is a set of short timed puzzles that claim to measure traits such as attention or attitude to risk. It is closer to a test than an interview and tends to appear early in graduate and early-career programs.

What one is like from start to finish

Formats differ, but most follow the same order:

• An email or text arrives with a link and a deadline, often a few days away.
• A setup check makes sure your camera and microphone work and your connection holds.
• Many platforms then offer a practice question that does not count. Use it if there is one.
• The instructions tell you how long each answer can be, whether you can retake, and how many questions there are.
• The questions themselves are usually few: tell me about yourself, why this role, and one or two "tell me about a time when..." questions.
• An end screen thanks you and usually gives no feedback at all.

Silence afterwards is common

The end screen is where many people get stuck. In the Greenhouse survey, 51% of people who completed an AI interview never heard back, 28% moved forward and 13% were formally rejected. On its own, silence tells you very little about how you did.

What the software usually looks at

Employers and platforms differ, and many do not explain. In the same survey, 39% of job seekers said they wanted a clear explanation of what the AI is measuring. Most of these systems work from a transcript of what you said, so the content of your answers counts most. Some also measure pace or pauses. Anyone who claims to know secret signals is guessing. The details vary by employer, and you are allowed to ask.

In practice the same habits help as with a human interviewer. Answer the question you were asked, speak in full sentences and give a concrete example. The STAR method keeps stories in order, and a short, rehearsed answer to "Tell me about yourself" gives you an easy start.

Is it a person or a bot?

Some AI interviewers are built to sound human, and not every employer says which one you are talking to. "If an interviewer is basically a talking bot, shouldn't candidates at least be told?" one poster asked on a Reddit interview forum, as reported by WION. If you are unsure, ask the recruiter before you start. Either way, talk the same way: clearly, at an even pace, in full sentences.

Some people find it easier than they expected

Not every report is negative. In a field experiment with about 70,000 applicants, 78% chose the AI voice interviewer when they were offered the choice. The study is a working paper that has not yet been peer-reviewed, and it recorded technical problems in about 7% of AI interviews. One candidate told TIME the AI felt "cold, but efficient," and that they were "shocked that it was asking such good followup questions."

Most people are new to the format, and a new format feels harder than it is. A couple of rehearsals usually take the edge off.

How to prepare without overthinking it

• Reread the invitation to find out the format. Is it recorded or live, video, voice or chat, and how long can each answer be?
• Use any practice question the platform offers, because it shows you the screen, the countdown and how your camera looks.
• Prepare four or five short stories from work, study or life that show how you solve problems and how you work with people.
• Say your answers out loud, since running through them silently is a different skill. As a careers expert at Indeed told the Associated Press, "You need to practice out loud."
• Check your setup the day before: light in front of you, camera at eye level, a quiet room, notifications off.
• If something breaks during the interview, take a screenshot and email the recruiter straight away with what happened.

If your first call is likely to be an AI phone screen, rehearse the questions a recruiter call usually covers. To say your answers out loud before the real thing, you can practice with an AI interviewer on Hmmlo, which asks about your own résumé and then shows what to tighten. If nerves are the problem, read why AI interviews feel so strange; if you are facing a recorded video, try the one-way video practice routine.