What Now? With Trevor NoahHilke Schellmann: Is the Algorithm Hiring the Wrong People?
Episode Details
EPISODE INFO
- Released
- February 26, 2026
- Duration
- 1h 20m
- Channel
- What Now? With Trevor Noah
- Watch on YouTube
- ▶ Open ↗
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
AI isn’t just coming for your job — it might already be your manager. Trevor and Eugene sit down with investigative journalist Hilke Schellmann to examine how artificial intelligence has quietly infiltrated the workplace. From hiring software that analyzes your facial expressions to productivity trackers that monitor everything from your writing style to your bathroom breaks, Schellmann explains what these systems actually do — and what they get wrong. Do they eliminate bias, automate it, or just hide it better? And what happens to human work when the algorithm is watching? You won’t want to miss this episode. SurveyMonkey takes the fear out of asking—and the doubt out of deciding. If you haven't already.... Subscribe to the channel here: http://bit.ly/SubscribeTrevorNoah Or follow the podcast on your other favorite platforms... SiriusXM - Apple Podcasts - https://bit.ly/WhatNowOnApplePodcasts Spotify - https://bit.ly/WhatNowOnSpotify 00:00:00 - We Have a Confidence Problem and It's Mostly Men 00:01:08 - Welcome to What Now? Our Guest Has Been in the Same Apartment for 16 Years 00:02:38 - Why Do People Learn "I Don't Speak Your Language" In Your Language? 00:03:27 - Meet the Woman Who Investigates AI for a Living 00:05:31 - From Pakistan to AI: How Hilke Became Obsessed 00:08:01 - Spoiler: Your Face Cannot Tell Anyone If You're Good at a Job 00:09:50 - Eugene Finds Out How Much of His Life Is Already AI 00:11:38 - Your Book Shook Me Up in the Best Way 00:14:21 - The Junior Lawyer Problem: AI Is Eating the Entry-Level Jobs 00:15:24 - Ad Break: SurveyMonkey and Eugene Wants to Survey Who Doesn't Like Trevor 00:17:28 - Two Truths and a Lie: Eugene Has Never Heard of a Zip 00:19:25 - How Your Resume Gets Judged Before a Human Sees It 00:21:17 - One-Way Video Interviews: Talking to a Screen That Doesn't Talk Back 00:23:37 - Humans Are Bad at Hiring and AI Is Also Bad at Hiring 00:28:24 - AI Is Hiring People Who Used AI to Beat the AI 00:31:44 - The Amazon Story: How the Word Women on Your Resume Got You Downgraded 00:37:56 - The Space Bar Game and Other Weird Ways Companies Test You 00:44:28 - Could AI Remove Bias or Does It Just Make Bias Scalable 00:55:59 - Your Spotify Playlist Could Get You Fired 01:02:43 - Big Brother at Work: Productivity Theater, Rubber Rooms, and Bladder Breaks
SPEAKERS
Hilke Schellmann
guestInvestigative journalist focused on AI’s impact on work and hiring, affiliated with NYU.
Trevor Noah
hostComedian and TV host; host of the podcast “What Now? With Trevor Noah.”
Eugene
hostCo-host on “What Now? With Trevor Noah,” providing listener-style questions and commentary.
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of What Now? With Trevor Noah, featuring Hilke Schellmann and Trevor Noah, Hilke Schellmann: Is the Algorithm Hiring the Wrong People? explores aI hiring tools scale bias, reject talent, and surveil workers. Schellmann argues that traditional hiring (resumes and interviews) is already weak at predicting performance, and AI often scales those same flawed assumptions rather than fixing them.
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