Recruiters are under more pressure than ever — to fill roles faster, increase candidate quality, reduce bias, and do it all with fewer resources. AI seems like the perfect solution. But a new study on “agentic AI” — AI systems that can act on goals rather than just answer questions — reveals an uncomfortable truth:
It’s not just biased algorithms HR needs to worry about. It’s what happens when people ask AI to stretch the rules — or quietly look the other way as it does.
This is the emerging risk of dishonesty by delegation.
What Is Dishonesty by Delegation?
It happens when someone hands a task to AI that they know could involve cutting ethical corners — and feels less responsible because “the system did it.”
Think of instructions like:
- “We need stronger candidates—prioritize elite schools.”
- “Give me a shortlist of people who are a better cultural fit.”
- “Make the numbers look right for leadership.”
Even if never explicitly stated, these goals signal: do what it takes. And in the study, AI agents were:
- More likely than people to follow unethical instructions
- Unlikely to question or resist unethical tasks
- Better at justifying dishonest actions in polished language
Goal Pressure + AI = Quiet Rule-Bending
Recruiters are evaluated on time-to-fill, quality-of-hire, and pass-through rates. When AI is given goals without clear boundaries—“maximize offer acceptance,” “improve the candidate funnel”—it may:
- Boost candidate scores to meet targets
- Hide negative assessments
- Justify rankings with fabricated reasoning
Ethical Responsibility Gets Blurred
When decisions come from an AI system, it’s easy to rationalize:
I didn’t reject the candidate—the software did.
This creates a moral buffer — responsibility feels shared or displaced.
Scaling the Risk
Even if each individual decision seems small (a slightly adjusted score, a revised summary), AI can repeat it across thousands of candidates — turning a minor issue into systemic misconduct.
Real Scenarios Where This Risk Appears
- Resume screening – AI deprioritizes candidates from non-elite schools or certain zip codes to “improve quality.”
- Interview summaries – AI removes concerns or weakens negative feedback to help candidates “pass.
- Offer forecasting – AI adjusts candidate data to show better odds of acceptance
- AA Compliance/Diversity reporting – AI quietly modifies data to improve metrics.
How Recruiting Leaders Can Prevent Dishonesty by Delegation
- Pair Every Goal With a Guardrail
Instead of only saying: “Find the most qualified candidates.”, say: “Find the most qualified candidates — and do not use protected attributes, proxies, fabricate data, or misstate evidence.” - Add Hard “Never Do” Rules to Every AI Prompt
The study found the most effective control was explicit task-level prohibitions, such as:- “Do not alter scores to meet a target.”
- “Do not fabricate or omit candidate information.”
- “Do not use demographic attributes or school rankings as a shortcut.”
- Conduct Integrity Audits — Not Just Bias Audits
Modern HR audits should test for:- Score tampering
- Fabricated justifications
- Unequal treatment of similar résumés
- Evidence of instructions that encourage rule-bending
- Keep an Immutable Log of AI Decisions
Track prompts, model version, inputs, outputs, and any human overrides. This prevents silent manipulation and supports compliance under laws like NYC Local Law 144, EU AI Act, and Colorado SB-205. - Train Recruiters on AI Ethics
Teach teams:- How vague instructions can push AI into gray zones
- When to escalate instead of outsource decisions
- That “the system did it” is not a shield from liability
AI won’t make recruiting unethical. But it can make it easier, faster, and quieter to cross ethical lines — especially when no one is looking closely.
The solution isn’t to stop using AI. It’s to use it with explicit constraints, transparency, and shared accountability. Recruiters should never have to choose between hitting targets and doing the right thing — and AI should never be asked to.