A surprising number of companies want hiring managers to prove AI can’t do the job before a role is approved

With year-to-date hiring plans sinking to a 16-year low according to a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, many people are beginning to feel the impacts—and it’s reasonable enough to believe that artificial intelligence (AI) might have something to do with the slump.

Zip, a company that creates procurement software, recently released a study that shows how AI might be factoring into hiring decisions even more than previously believed.

The report surveyed 1,030 “experienced leaders” who are also responsible for some degree of spending and supply management within their companies. Seven in 10 of the leaders—which amounts to 67%—reported that they’re already using AI in “spend and supplier management,” while 17% say they’re using it widely.

Basically, AI is taking over faster than mo