Meta to Let Coding Candidates Use AI Assistants During Interviews

By siliconindia  |  Thursday, 31 July 2025, 17:57 IST

Meta to Let Coding Candidates Use AI Assistants During Interviews
  • Meta allows job applicants to use AI tools during coding tests, signaling a major shift in its recruitment strategy.
  • The company is testing mock AI-powered interviews internally, embracing generative AI in engineering workflows.
  • This marks the rise of 'vibe coding', where creativity and AI collaboration matter as much as technical skill.

Meta announced a dramatic shift in its hiring process with the inclusion of letting job applicants utilize artificial intelligence technology for coding tests. The company first reported by 404 Media and later acknowledged by the firm is a representation of Meta's changing views about what role AI will play in the development of software in the future and how employers will hire. Along with this shift for job candidates, Meta has also asked current workers to try out 'mock AI-powered interviews', marking a wider internal test of how AI can be integrated into engineering pipelines.

This change puts Meta in a larger cohort of tech companies that are adopting AI not only as an efficiency tool but as part of the hiring process itself. In the past, coding challenges were meant to assess a candidate's raw coding skills under time pressure, with no external resources. Today, by permitting the use of AI tools, Meta is not only lessening the impact of large language model-based cheating but also officially recognizing the emergence of a new style known as 'vibe coding'.

'Vibe coding' is the employment of generative AI technologies such as chatbots and smart code assistants to code software in an attitude that prioritizes speed, creativity, and implementation of ideas over technical competence alone. With the swift evolution of these tools, one can now prototype and deploy software products without necessarily having a formal coding education or engineering training. This democratization of development is already changing the landscape, enabling designers, entrepreneurs, and other non-engineers to realize digital ideas on their own.

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Startups like Lovable and Cursor, which specialize in AI-powered coding, have witnessed an increase in interest and investment, highlighting the promise of these technologies. While some within the tech world are concerned that AI could replace conventional software engineers, others believe that AI will complement human abilities, enabling developers to spend more time working on innovative problem-solving and less time dealing with mundane tasks.

Meta's embrace of AI-powered hiring marks a larger cultural transformation in Silicon Valley, one where proficiency in working with AI could be as crucial as coding itself. That transformation has the potential to reshape what it means to be a developer in the era of artificial intelligence.

 

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