Cluely.ai: Will This AI Tool Mark the End of Virtual Interviews?

Yesterday I saw my roommate preparing for an upcoming interview and she was all over the place – revising topics, practicing codes, and whatnot. Coincidently, I came across an Instagram reel – talking about a tool named Cluely.ai that can help you “cheat” through online interviews without getting caught. Without a second thought, I forwarded her the reel as if it was the solution to all her woes. Minutes later, she asked me a simple question: But is it safe? What if I get caught?

That is when it hit me, one should always factcheck and be vary of the consequences before using an AI tool. So in this blog, we’ll explore the controversial tool that’s been making the headlines – Cluely.ai, which is basically a desktop assistant that helps you navigate through sales calls and online meetings. We’ll understand how it works and the possible repercussions of using such a tool.

Table of Contents

• What is Cluely.ai?
  • Key Features of Cluely.ai
• The Story of Cluely.ai
• Why is Everyone Talking About Cluely.ai?
  • Is It Illegal?
• Is Cluely.ai the First Tool Threatening the Safety of Virtual Interactions?
• How Can We Safeguard Virtual Interactions?
• Conclusion

What is Cluely.ai?

Cluely.ai is an AI-powered assistant that works on your desktop to provide real-time and “undetectable” support during virtual interactions like online job interviews, sales calls, and meetings. It helps users with tasks like checking facts, writing code, researching information, and more. It provides pitch help in sales calls, objection handling in meetings, and persuasive responses in any interview. While it isn’t the first AI tool that offers support in online calls, it is the first to do so – completely undetectable.

It works by monitoring your screen and hearing the audio throughout the online meeting, providing contextual suggestions and answers in real-time. It does so through a hidden or concealed layer that remains completely invisible to other participants in the meeting. While the exact technical details of how Cluely.ai operates are still not known, it has been assumed that this AI assistant runs parallelly on a separate window within the user’s system. Since the output of the tool remains invisible to other participants it can be assumed that Cluely.ai manipulates the screen-sharing output.

The tool currently has around 70K active users at a subscription rate of $20/month.

Key Features of Cluely.ai

Some of the features of Cluely.ai include:

1. The tool monitors the complete video and audio throughout a call and offers quick prompts for responses.
2. It runs as a hidden browser window and remains invisible even when the screen is being shared.
3. The participants in a meeting can upload their documents and Cluely.ai can automatically scan them. It can relate the important points to the user, who can then use them in the conversation.
4. After the meeting is done, Cluely.ai can generate tailored emails for the participants based on the discussion.
5. Cluely.ai works with popular online meeting platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, Teams Meeting, etc.

The Story of Cluely.ai

Developed by two Columbia graduates, Chungin “Roy” Lee, and Neel Shanmugam, this AI assistant evolved out of their college project, “Interview Coder,” built to help students with their technical interviews. Their invention earned the two founders disciplinary action, with Chungin getting expelled for the same.

That being said, this controversial startup has just received seed funding worth $5.3 million from its major investors. From its controversial advertisements to its website that clearly states that the tool helps its users “cheat” – the company is calling on the world to adapt to this wave of AI innovation.

Why is Everyone Talking About Cluely.ai?

Cluely.ai is questioning the way we work. It offers a quick way to get help during online meetings and job interviews, making us question the authenticity of these methods. Post-Covid, the world has adapted to the online way of living, thanks to the growing support from various online meeting platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet.

To beat the challenges of cheating or misappropriate actions through these tools, the interviewers or organizers would often ask the candidates to share their screens, keep their cameras on at all times, and even set strict assessment protocols. But Cluely.ai is proving all of this inadequate or irrelevant with their AI-powered cheating tool. Its features allow candidates and employees to gain external help without getting caught, questioning the legitimacy of the online hiring process, and raising data security issues.

Is It Illegal?

Currently, neither India nor the USA or even the EU have policies in place to question the legality of Cluely.ai. However, this tool infringes upon a person’s right to privacy as it involves recording a person’s audio or video without their consent. The tool, while not explicitly banned anywhere, poses a threat to both individuals and companies, as it can get access to confidential data being shared in online meetings.

Is Cluely.ai the First Tool Threatening the Safety of Virtual Interactions?

Cluely.ai is unabashedly being advertised as an AI assistant to help you “cheat” but it is not the first one. There are several AI tools that either directly or indirectly taint the legitimacy of online interactions. Some of the popular tools are:

1. Smart Glasses

These glasses are more than just a pretty accessory. They can act as AI copilots that offer real-time assistance, live transcriptions in multiple languages, and answer voice-activated queries. These glasses allow candidates to get AI-assisted help throughout meetings without any other participant noticing. Some of the popular AI-powered smart glasses include Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, Halliday AI Glasses, Solos Smart Glasses, etc.

2. AI interview assistants

Most of the AI interview assistants out there are to help candidates prepare and practice for their upcoming interviews. But when used in stealth mode, these tools can also be misused by candidates to receive immediate answers during interviews. Some best-known AI interview assistants include Final Round AI, LockedIN AI, Sensei AI, etc.

3. Browser Extensions

These Chrome or Safari extensions provide real-time answers during virtual interviews while merging with normal browsing behavior. Such browser extensions monitor your screen to provide you with cues and summarize the content in the display. AIApply’s Interview Buddy is an example of such a type of browser extension.

4. Bluetooth AI

Tiny Bluetooth devices or simple Bluetooth earphones when powered with an AI assistant can whisper answers to questions in real time without anyone noticing. These devices which often just appear as a normal set of earphones can be a deceptive meeting buddy. Sometimes these devices can be as small & thin as a chip – making it impossible to even see them through the screen.

How Can We Safeguard Virtual Interactions?

Each challenge brings with itself an opportunity. Tools like Cluely.ai, AI-powered smart glasses, and browser extensions have highlighted a key vulnerability in our virtual interaction process. To preserve the trust and legitimacy of our online meetings, here are a few approaches that companies and individuals can consider, going forward:

1. Enhanced Verification Process

While companies focus a lot on candidate background verification, but its time an equal amount of attention be given to checking their exact “physical” background as they come for an interview or assessment. This can involve strict removal of unauthorized devices (like a secondary screen or smart glasses) from the surrounding area. A complete 360-degree scan of the candidate’s surroundings using a second phone or device. Finally, make screen sharing mandatory at all times to check for any external interference.

2. Human-Centric Evaluation

It’s not easy to beat AI at things that it excels which includes its ability to remember information and generate responses based on it. So prefer practical assessments over theoretical ones. Provide project-based assessments to test candidate’s skills and have multiple interviewers during the screening process. This ensures that it becomes difficult for AI assistants to catch up in real-time, making it harder for candidates to cheat.

3. Use AI

An eye for an eye might make the world go blind, but catching an AI with AI might just open your eyes to different kinds of frauds being committed. Just as AI can help users undetected, there are AI models that can “detect” decipherable human traits like the motion of their eyes, unnatural pauses, or tab switches to detect AI assistance.

Conclusion

AI is opening all types of doors for humans. From detecting diseases to solving high-level mathematical problems it is supporting innovation across various fronts. But then it also has a side where it can be responsible for the spread of misinformation or cheating in online interactions. As these advancements continue we need to get smarter with the way we work. The future does not hold us working solely; it involves us humans working in sync with AI models. That is why banning apps that question our existing systems is not a long-term solution, but building AI friendly ecosystem might just be one. Going ahead, we need better systems in place to detect AI so that no one gets an unfair advantage.

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