19 37 Can AI Buzzwording Land a Job?
January 19, 2026
Since the application process was automated, job hunting has been a problem. It’s worsened with the implementation of AI. AI makes job hunting worse, because if your resume doesn’t include the correct buzzwords you won’t make it to the next round. To that effect, job hunters are packing their resume with the right words, but perspective employers are doing the same. ZDNet explains the hard knock reality of job hunting in an AI world: “AI Buzzwords Are Making The Job Hunt Harder – For Everyone.”
Packing resumes and job classifieds with AI buzzwords is a trend called “AI language inflation.” It’s a double edged sword. Employers are loading their job advertisements with buzzwords to be cutting edge (sometimes highlighting aspects that aren’t essential for job). Job hunters are then adding more AI buzzwords to get past the algorithms.
This means that job hunters must learn the different AI “flavors” and properly curate their resumes. Even the word AI is a buzzword:
“AI is used very loosely and almost like a buzzword. What I’m looking for is the appropriate use of the word AI. How well are people really starting to understand, more deeply, what is artificial intelligence or digital labor? Or how they’re using it, so it’s not just as a buzzword but day-to-day practical examples?”
If you do want to do the jargon dance, here’s a resource for you. The list is published from a company with a remarkably opaque name, Service Now. The helpful listing is “AI Terms Explained.” Service Now (does anyone or any thing deliver “service” now?) Here are three examples of what the list will deliver. Plus you can watch a little video about the “comprehensive guide.”
Artificial general intelligence (or AGI). Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) refers to an AI system that possesses a wide range of cognitive abilities, much like humans, enabling them to learn, reason, adapt to new situations, and devise creative solutions across various tasks and domains, rather than being limited to specific tasks as narrow AI systems are. [Note that you have to use “AI” a couple of times when defining “AGI.” That’s intellectually impressive even though Ms. Sperling told me in the 10th grade, don’t define a word by using that word in your definition. Obviously Ms. Sperling in 1959 would need to up her game in 2026.]
Here’s another definition from the service outfit Service Now which is serving you:
Explainability. Explainability refers to techniques that make AI model decisions and predictions interpretable and understandable to humans. [Note: Would someone at a Google or OpenAI-type company provide me with some information about the hallucination function? [Note: As a human (I think), providing incorrect, made up, or off point information is difficult for me to understand especially when I have to pay for wrongness.]
The final example from the serving me now Service Now listing of AI buzzwords that will definitely serve you well:
Natural Language Generation (or NLG). A subfield of AI that produces natural written or spoken language. [Note: What is “natural”? What is “language”? The explanation does not serve me well.]
This list contains more than 90 terms.
Several observations:
- Buzzwords won’t deliver the bacon
- Lists generated by AI are not particularly helpful
- Do not define AI, in case anyone asks you, by using the acronym AI or the word artificial.
Net net: I am skeptical about AI which is a utility function related to search and retrieval. I am also not sure about the “service” thing. Especially service “now.” I have to wait everywhere; for instance, getting a clear definition of AI.
Stephen E Arnold, January 19. 2025
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