The “Manchurian Candidate” in Your Zoom Lobby: How AI Is Changing Political & PR Hiring
AI is transforming political and public affairs hiring, creating a new challenge for employers trying to distinguish real talent from AI-assisted performance. Candidates can now use tools like ChatGPT to craft polished interview answers and writing samples, making traditional hiring methods less effective. In industries where judgment, speed, and the ability to think under pressure matter most, campaigns and PR firms must rethink their approach—replacing take-home tests with live exercises, deeper interviews, and more meaningful assessments of real-world experience. The future of hiring will not be about avoiding AI, but about finding candidates who know how to use it while still bringing the human instincts that technology cannot replace.