As our digital age continues to progress, so does our usage of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence, also known as “AI,” “refers to computer systems capable of performing complex tasks that historically only a human could do, such as reasoning, making decisions or solving problems.”

But one thing we don’t always consider is AI can also be used to review applications for scholarships, college applications, facial recognition and so much more.

One thing that has become more alarming across our media today is the use of AI involving Canva resumes. Canva is an online platform that allows the user to make slideshows and even has templates for documents and resumes.

At the beginning of this year, Business Wire announced that the platform now has “a user base that exceeds 60 million.”

Though Canva makes for nicely designed and spaced resumes, it won’t help get your content read properly by an ATS.

This past week, I have heard college students become greatly worried after hearing news that AI does not always process the information that is on Canva resumes. Many students question if this had any effect on previous places they had applied to for internships or part-time jobs. 

So, if employers are using AI to help them get through assessing applications faster, though this process can possibly be unreliable and biased, the AI algorithms do not always recognize texts on a Canva document. Because of this, they are possibly thrown away.

With that being said, this can put the user at risk for being accepted for jobs or internships if these employers are using certain AI algorithms during the hiring process.

One article found that “Canva resume templates employ, at the very least, a bunch of text boxes that you can use to copy and paste your resume content. Resume scanning systems simply can’t parse information from text boxes properly. This means that your resume will look like it has a bunch of nonsensical characters in it, leading the ATS to reject your resume as an incompatible file.”

So, a recommendation that was given was to have a more simplistic layout of your resume and to use systems like Word and Google Docs to get past the ATS systems when applying.

“The safest time for a student to use a resume from Canva is if they physically hand in a copy for someone to look at.” If that isn’t the case, be more wary of where and how you make your resume for future opportunities.

Ella Katona is an opinion writer. Contact her at [email protected].