Why AI-generated recommendation letters sell applicants short

ChatGPT can do many things, but writing a personal endorsement is not one of them, says Maroun Khoury. Facebook Email Maroun Khoury emphasizes the need to draw on personal interactions and experiences when writing letters of recommendation.Credit: Damircudic/Getty As a principal investigator in a research laboratory that specializes in advanced therapies, I am routinely asked to write recommendation letters for my students, colleagues and associates. I’m also often on the receiving end of such letters from candidates applying for job openings in our group. Over the past year, I have noticed an interesting but concerning development: many of these letters are seemingly being produced not by hand, but by using artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT. Such chatbots are undeniably remarkable. They can automatically generate letters of reference by drawing on data and patterns to create coherent and grammatically correct compositions. Researchers with limited time, or for whom English is not their first language, can use such aids to make the process of drafting more manageable, ensuring that recommendations are effectively communicated. Mentoring resources Nevertheless, as someone who values personal relationships, I find that most of these AI-generated letters lack one key quality, which disadvantages the candidate: the personal touch. Here, I provide tips for writing an effective recommendation letter and highlight ways to use AI without short-changing the applicant. 1. Get personal A meaningful reference letter requires you to reflect on your personal interactions and experiences with the person concerned. It involves sharing specific examples of instances when you witnessed the candidate’s competencies and behaviours, and incorporating those anecdotes into a narrative that accentuates their strengths and contributions. AI lacks that foundation, producing text that might be coherent and even accurate, but that lacks emotion or specificity. Instead of a personal endorsement, the result is a letter without passion or subtlety, because it is not based on first-hand experience. And that does the candidate a disservice, because it fails to capture the nuances of their achievements, character, strengths and potential. 2. Provide a genuine assessment Your job in writing a recommendation letter is to go beyond what […]

Click here to view original page at Why AI-generated recommendation letters sell applicants short

© 2024, wcadmin. All rights reserved, Writers Critique, LLC Unless otherwise noted, all posts remain copyright of their respective authors.