Over the past 15 years of my working life, I’ve done a lot of interviews for a lot of different jobs and industries: call centre operator, social media manager, bookseller, copywriter, library worker. Recently, after completing my first year of a masters degree in early childhood and primary teaching, I applied for a preschool education role and experienced a first: being interviewed by AI.

I’d heard of this practice and was aware of its shortcomings, from how demoralising it is to the risk of discrimination.

Yet I still wasn’t prepared for how dystopian and dehumanising it felt to be in the situation myself.

I had applied for the role with great interest – it was at a sessional kindergarten managed by a not-for-profit. My initial excitement at being shortlisted soon faded as I realised I would be speaking with an “AI assistant”. Nevertheless, she persisted: I dressed as I would for any other job interview, shooed my cats out of the........

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