Why You Shouldn’t Use AI for Cover Letters
Your resume is polished , your interview skills are strong , but there’s one thing that stands between you and your ability to hit “submit” on a job application: a cover letter. For many job seekers, writing a cover letter takes a lot of time and effort. It would be much easier to apply for job after job if you didn’t have to try to convince every hiring manager that you’re the perfect fit for that particular position.
All of this makes it pretty tempting to turn to artificial intelligence to process your cover letter for you, right? I mean, hey, we’re not new to testing AI’s ability to create content . Technology isn’t perfect, however, and your AI cover letter could do more harm than good. While this may seem like a magical solution to your cover letter problems, here are reasons why you should think twice before using an artificial intelligence cover letter generator during your job search.
The problem with AI-generated cover letters
A quick search for “AI cover letter” will turn up a plethora of sites promising to write the perfect letter to a potential employer. As most of these online generators explain, the resulting cover letter is what happens when their AI refers to your experience in a resume and links your information to a specific job description. Here’s what’s most important to understand about these sites: they’re computer programs that can’t go beyond repeating what you say on your resume.
What’s more, your AI cover letter might not just be redundant – it might be inaccurate and misleading. For example, the ChatGPT AI chatbot ( which we recently featured) explains to users: “The system may occasionally generate incorrect or misleading information and create offensive or biased content. It is not meant to give advice.”
Remember, the best way for a job candidate to stand out is to expand your resume, not copy and paste it over and over again . Job search wisdom tells us that a cover letter should tell a story that requires information that only you as a person can provide.
Use AI for first drafts, not finished products
All of this doesn’t change how useful an AI-generated cover letter can be. After all, the hardest part about writing a cover letter is getting the first few words on the page. The takeaway is this: if you’re going to use AI to write your cover letter, only use it for your first draft. With an AI-generated cover letter, you can get started right away with perhaps the scariest aspect of job applications. However, the final product should have your personal, very human touch. To learn more, here are our tips on how to use the cover letter template without making it too obvious.