Should you opt out of AI resume screening?

What the checkbox is

Some job applications now carry a line like "We use AI to help review applications. Check here to opt out." It usually appears because of a law that requires notice, or because the employer chose to be open about it.

The best known law is New York City's Local Law 144, enforced since July 5, 2023. It covers an "automated employment decision tool": software that uses machine learning, statistics or AI to substantially assist or replace a hiring decision, including screening. When a job is based in the city, the employer must have had the tool bias audited within the past year, and must tell candidates who live in New York City that it uses one, at least 10 business days before using it. The notice must say what the tool will assess and how to request an alternative process or an accommodation, if one is available. The employer does not have to provide an alternative.

What opting out does and does not do

The honest gap: nobody outside the employer can see what happens to opted-out applications. They might be read by a recruiter the same day, or wait in a separate list. No study we could find measures it, and the articles that quote outcomes do not cite one.

What the employer must offer instead

Less than many people think, and the rules below are New York City's only. New York City's rules say the notice must include instructions for requesting "an alternative selection process or a reasonable accommodation under other laws, if available", and then: "Nothing in this subchapter requires an employer or employment agency to provide an alternative selection process."

So in New York City you are entitled to be told and to ask. You are not entitled to a different process. Disability accommodation is different: it comes from disability law, and that right exists with or without this checkbox.

In the European Union, the AI Act treats AI used for recruitment, such as CV-sorting software, as high risk. According to the European Commission, those rules apply from 2 December 2027, so they are not in force yet.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Our recommendation, by situation

• Your resume matches the job clearly (same title, same skills, standard layout): stay in. The software is likely to rank you well, and opting out buys you nothing you can measure.
• Your background needs explaining (career change, long gap, military or overseas titles that do not translate, a portfolio that matters more than your job titles): opting out is reasonable. Pair it with a short note or cover letter, and try to reach a person at the company directly.
• You need an accommodation: opt out or follow the accommodation instructions in the notice, and say what you need.
• You object to automated assessment on principle: opting out is your right. Go in knowing it may change how and when you are reviewed.

What matters more than the checkbox

Either way, your resume is read by software first and by a person second. Make sure the parser reads it correctly (see what an ATS does with your resume) and the job's own words are in it where they are true. You can check what the software picks up from your file before you send it.