Artificial intelligence (AI) and facial expression technology is being used for the first time in job interviews in the UK to identify the best candidates.

Unilever, the consumer goods giant, is among companies using AI technology to analyse the language, tone and facial expressions of candidates when they are asked a set of identical job questions which they film on their mobile phone or laptop.

The algorithms select the best applicants by assessing their performances in the videos against about 25,000 pieces of facial and linguistic information compiled from previous interviews of those who have gone on to prove to be good at the job.

Hirevue, the US company which has developed the interview technology, claims it enables hiring firms to interview more candidates in the initial stage rather than simply relying on CVs and that it provides a more reliable and objective indicator of future performance free of human bias.

However, academics and campaigners warned that any AI or facial recognition technology would inevitably have in-built biases in its databases that could discriminate against some candidates and exclude talented applicants who might not conform to the norm.