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A Student Used AI to Beat Amazon’s Brutal Technical Interview. He Got an Offer and Someone Tattled to His University

Mar 04, 2025 - gizmodo.com
Roy Lee, a Columbia University student, is facing disciplinary action after using an AI program he developed, called Interview Coder, to secure internship offers from Amazon, Meta, and TikTok. The program leverages AI to solve technical interview problems, which Lee argues are outdated and irrelevant to actual programming work. He recorded and posted his Amazon interview online to demonstrate the program's effectiveness, leading to a complaint to Columbia and a scheduled disciplinary hearing. Lee, disillusioned with the technical interview process and the future of tech jobs due to advancements in AI, plans to leave Columbia and is selling subscriptions to his program.

Lee's actions have sparked debate about the relevance of traditional technical interviews in the tech industry. He believes that the current interview process is a performance rather than a true test of programming skills, and that AI advancements will soon render many tech jobs obsolete. Despite the controversy, Lee's story has gained significant attention online, and he views his actions as a critique of the industry's hiring practices rather than an attempt to secure a job.

Key takeaways:

  • A Columbia University student, Roy Lee, used an AI program he developed to pass technical interviews at major tech companies, leading to a disciplinary hearing at the university.
  • Lee's program, Interview Coder, simplifies the technical interview process by using AI to solve coding problems, which he demonstrated by recording and posting his interview with Amazon on YouTube.
  • Lee argues that the traditional technical interview process is outdated and not reflective of actual programming work, and he believes that AI advancements will soon make many tech jobs obsolete.
  • Despite facing disciplinary action, Lee is capitalizing on the attention by selling subscriptions to his program, positioning it as a critique of the current tech hiring practices.
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