I've been on UC for 3 months now for the first time in my life. Struggling to get back into the workforce.
I've got severe COPD and I struggle to complete a full sentence without pausing to breathe.
I had an interview on Thursday with a major tech company. One of the 10 largest in Europe.
When I loged on it I noticed my interviewer was an AI woman. She began asking me complex multi-part questions.
Stuff like: if you encountered problem X, how would you manage client expectations, balance competing priorities, and ensure adherence to KPIs.
Because of my COPD I only managed to barely answer the first third of the question before I had to breathe. The AI then interrupted me and explainex that I hadn't answered the other two parts of the question. It then started another line of questioning.
I cut in and finished answering part 2 of the first question, but the AI disregarded my answer and said "We have already moved on from that question."
This happpened constantly. It was humiliating and degrading. I was trying to catch my breath with an inhaler and the AI was just cutting me off when I was wheezing.
I got an email on Friday saying I didn't pass the interview. I wrote back saying what happened in detail, about my disability. The company responded saying that I didn't adequately answer the questions. I confirmed this was from a human.
Is there any kind of protections under UK law for people with disabilities like me who can't speak with an AI? Every time I stop to breathe it interrupts me and moves on.
I'm a very competent employee who used to manage a team of 12 staff before business was outsourced to another country. Being treated by an AI like this was humiliating and degrading.