askST Jobs: Can I use AI for take-home interview assignments?

In this series, business journalist Timothy Goh offers practical answers to candid questions on navigating workplace challenges and getting ahead in your career. Get more tips by signing up to The Straits Times’ Headstart newsletter.

Q: Where should candidates draw the line when using AI tools for interview assignments? When does AI assistance become misrepresentation?

Generally, using artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT for take-home interview assignments is acceptable if the prospective employer allows it.

The more important question is how candidates use it. For transparency, it could be worth citing how and where they have used AI, said Michelle Koh, managing director at executive search firm The Edge Partnership.

“Using AI to brainstorm ideas, structure your thoughts, improve writing clarity, check grammar or sanity-check formulas and code is increasingly common and generally viewed as acceptable,” Koh said.

But problems arise when candidates rely on AI to complete the entire assignment, especially when they cannot explain or defend the work during the presentation stage.

“If you do not truly understand the output, the submission no longer reflects your actual capability,” she added.

Koh noted that even if candidates eventually secure the job, holding on to it may become difficult.

“As I recruit in finance, I have personally tested AI-generated responses on financial reporting standards and found that the answers can sometimes be inaccurate,” she said.

“Candidates who rely uncritically on such responses risk presenting flawed analysis during the interview process.”

Kevin Chan, chief executive of HR technology company Epitome Global, offered another perspective.

He noted that take-home interview assignments are not meant to function like exams but to simulate how candidates actually work, and this increasingly includes the use of AI tools.

“When I review a take-home submission, I am not trying to verify whether a candidate can produce something entirely unaided,” Chan said.

“What I care about is judgment: Did the candidate scope the problem well, ask smart questions, structure their reasoning clearly, challenge weak assumptions and produce something useful? Whether AI was involved is far less important than whether the output is good,” he added.

Chan said candidates who avoid AI entirely may also raise concerns for employers about whether they can adapt to evolving ways of working.

“In many roles today, refusing to use AI when it could clearly help suggests someone may struggle to adapt to how work is evolving,” he said.

Still, using AI “well” is not the same as simply generating an answer and submitting it directly.

The real skill being tested is judgment and taste – whether candidates can recognise when the AI’s first answer is generic or weak, spot factual mistakes or shallow reasoning, or shape the output so it reflects their own thinking, priorities and communication style.

Chan said transparency remains important, and candidates can ask interviewers upfront whether they are comfortable with the use of AI tools in assignments and whether they expect disclosure.

“Most hiring managers will say yes. Many will quietly respect you more for asking directly,” he said.

“And if the answer is no, that is useful information too. It gives you insight into how the company thinks about technology and how adaptable it may be.”

Koh said many employers now assume candidates will use AI to some extent.

Some are also interested in seeing how candidates use it, much like how proficiency in Google, Excel and other productivity tools eventually became the norm.

That is why a candidate who uses AI efficiently while still demonstrating original thinking may outperform someone who avoids it entirely.

“A practical approach is to use AI as a co-pilot, not a replacement... At the end of the day, you should still be able to confidently walk through every part of the assignment, explain your reasoning clearly and ensure the final submission genuinely reflects your own capabilities,” Koh said.