Anne Hathaway said a recent hiring process took an odd turn when every candidate sent a thank-you note that looked different at first, then turned out to be the same. What began as a polite follow-up quickly became a giveaway, she said, because the notes were written by AI and matched word for word.
Hathaway said she was hiring for a recent role and received thank-you notes from all of the candidates. The first one struck her as “nice” and “professional,” she said, before she noticed the rest were identical. That was the moment, she said, when she realized she was seeing something she was not supposed to see. The warning she drew from it was simple: people who think they are getting away with AI may be revealing themselves instead.
The timing matters because AI tools are now threaded through the job search, from applications to follow-up messages, and candidates are using them to save time in a process that can chew through hours. Hathaway’s account suggests that the same shortcut can work against applicants when a hiring manager sees the same phrasing again and again. In that setting, the note meant to show effort can end up making the sender stand out for the wrong reason.
Meryl Streep sharpened the point with a blunt reaction, saying, “Nobody on that list gets that job,” before adding, “Oh, my God, that would be an absolute killer.” The comment underlined the risk for applicants: a thank-you note that is meant to sound polished can become evidence that the sender leaned too hard on automation. Sophie Rocha offered the simplest counterpoint, saying it really takes two seconds to send a thank-you note after an interview and that people will stand out if they do.
That leaves a clear lesson for job seekers and hiring managers alike. AI may help people move faster, but in a crowded search it can also flatten every candidate into the same voice, and that is exactly what caught Hathaway’s attention.
