January 29, 2026
Stamp it out: HR vs AI spam
Employers, please use postmarked letters for job applications
Make job seekers buy stamps to fight AI spam? Internet calls it gatekeeping
TLDR: A writer suggests bringing back stamped, handwritten job applications to slow AI-generated resume spam. The community erupts: critics call it gatekeeping that hurts real applicants, skeptics allege shady employer tactics, and others want a full hiring system reboot—proof that AI isn’t the only thing breaking recruiting.
A bold proposal just dropped: make people apply for jobs by mailing a stamped, handwritten letter to prove they’re real humans—and not AI bots spamming resumes. The author says physical mail raises the cost (hello, stamps) and effort enough to stop the coming “barfstorm” of AI-generated applications. Cue chaos in the comments. One camp thundered that this would punish real people more than robots, with one top reply fuming it would deter “50 humans” for every bot. Another camp wants to add friction—maybe even a small fee—to stop the flood of unqualified resumes, but admits charging the unemployed is a terrible look. Things got spicy: a cynic claimed snail mail has been used to game visa paperwork, while reformers demanded the entire hiring system collapse so we can rebuild it with real standards and no more retyping your life into broken forms. The jokes flowed like envelopes at a post office: “nobody owns a printer,” “my handwriting is a crime scene,” and a chant of LA-TEN-CY 👏👏👏 for mail delays. Handwriting comparisons and carbon-copy paper? Peak retro. Whether this stops AI or just gatekeeps humans is the feud—but the mood is clear: the job hunt is still Kafkaesque, just with stamps USPS.
Key Points
- •The article proposes replacing digital job applications with postmarked physical letters to introduce friction and reduce low-effort submissions.
- •It recommends handwritten cover letters to make automation by LLMs more difficult and costly for applicants.
- •A carbonless imprint is suggested to help verify genuine handwriting and detect printer-produced text.
- •The author argues the change imposes minimal direct costs on employers, mainly updating application instructions online.
- •Limitations acknowledged include potential transcription of LLM outputs, outsourcing, latency, accessibility issues, and applicant deterrence.