HR Tips: How to Protect Against AI in Interviews

By Cheatproof.ai Team | Published September 4, 2025

Simply banning AI won't stop candidates from using tools like ChatGPT or Cluely during interviews. A structured, thoughtful approach is needed to detect and prevent AI-assisted cheating while improving hiring quality. Below are practical strategies for HR and interviewers to ensure candidates demonstrate genuine skills.

Redesigning the Interview Process

To reduce AI reliance, focus interviews on real-time problem-solving with these methods:

Reasoning-Focused Questions

Include strong follow-up questions to dive deeper into a candidate’s reasoning. Add "trip-up" questions like "What was the last bug you fixed in your code?" to catch them off guard. These questions confuse both the candidate and AI, often causing long pauses or fabricated answers that don’t match real-world experience.

Live Coding Sessions

Ask candidates to write code live and explain their thought process step-by-step. This makes it difficult to copy-paste AI-generated solutions, as they must show how they arrived at the answer.

Situational Case Studies

Use unique, context-specific scenarios that require candidates to think on their feet. These tasks are harder for AI to solve instantly, as they demand practical application of knowledge.

Using Anti-AI Analytics

Use tools like CheatProof.ai to track response time metrics and behavioral patterns. Long pauses followed by perfect answers or frequent filler words (e.g., "um," "uh") may signal AI use. Monitoring eye movement in video interviews or detecting unnatural speech patterns can also reveal reliance on external tools.

Multi-Level Evaluation

Test candidates beyond technical skills with a multi-level approach:

Soft Skills Assessment

Use open-ended discussions to evaluate emotional intelligence and communication, where AI struggles to mimic authentic human responses.

Deep-Dive Questions

Ask candidates to explain their solutions or justify decisions, ensuring they understand their work rather than parroting AI output.

Clear Policies and Transparent Rules

Set a clear policy against AI use and communicate it upfront. Explain that interviews assess authentic skills and that using AI violates the process. Transparency discourages cheating. Consider screen-sharing during technical tasks or in-person interviews to limit access to external tools.

Conclusion

Fighting AI-assisted cheating improves the entire hiring process. By using reasoning-focused interviews, analytics, multi-level evaluations, and clear rules, companies can hire talent with real skills. Tools like CheatProof.ai support these efforts, ensuring fairer and more effective hiring for all.