AI company says 'Don’t Use AI' in job applications

anthropic

AI is everywhere. It helps you write emails, does research on your behalf, and yes, even helps you apply for jobs by crafting neat, almost flawless cover letters. But if you’re thinking about using AI to apply for a job at Anthropic—the company behind Claude AI—you might want to rethink your decision. Anthropic may not entertain your candidature if you have used ChatGPT or say Claude to write the cover letter or your resume.

Anthropic has a very specific rule: “Please do not use AI assistants during the application process.” They say they want to understand your personal interest in the company, not an AI-generated version of it. Fair enough. But coming from a company that literally builds AI to help people work faster, this feels a little ironic.

The policy was spotted by open-source developer Simon Willison, and it raises an interesting point: AI companies are creating systems so good at writing like humans that even they don’t trust them. And instead of coming up with a way to detect AI-written text, they’re just asking candidates nicely not to use it. Because, of course, job applicants would never bend the truth.

It makes sense that Anthropic wants to see real, human-written applications. But let’s be honest—most resumes and cover letters are already full of fluff and clichés. Whether an AI or a human wrote them, does it really make a difference?

AI companies are pushing technology that can do things better and faster, but even they don’t seem sure about where to draw the line. If they don’t want AI-generated applications, what does that say about the tools they’re building? And if AI is so good at mimicking humans, how long before we can’t tell the difference anymore?

For now, if you’re applying to Anthropic, maybe stick to the old-fashioned way—at least until AI gets good enough to lie about writing the cover letter itself.