“In the new study, Chatoo created an AI-supported resume for a marketing position and asked 1,000 adults in the U.K. to evaluate the candidate during April 2026. The evaluators received identical resumes and were told that the candidate had used AI assistance. The only difference among the resumes was the candidate’s name. Half of the evaluators saw Emily Clarke, while half saw James Clark.
Despite identical resume content, the evaluators judged women candidates much more harshly for using AI assistance than men.
The evaluators who attributed the AI-assisted resume to a woman were twice as likely to question the candidate’s competency. “She can’t even write a CV herself—not sure she has the skill to carry out the job,” said one of the evaluators of Emily’s resume.
In contrast, evaluators who attributed the AI-assisted resume to a man were twice as likely to view the candidate as showing initiative. In other words, a woman’s use of AI was evidence of inability, while a man’s use of AI to create the identical product was viewed as pragmatic problem solving.”