AI Performance Reviews Are Everywhere—Here's How to Keep Yours Authentic
It's December. You're staring at a blank self-assessment form, trying to remember what you accomplished in March. Sound familiar?
You're not alone. Performance review season is universally dreaded—and increasingly, people are turning to AI for help. A recent study found that 75% of organizations* now plan to integrate AI into their review processes, and *52% of managers already use AI tools to write feedback.
But here's the problem: when everyone's using ChatGPT to write their reviews, everyone starts sounding the same. And from the other side of the table, that's creating a whole new headache.
The Rise of AI-Assisted Performance Reviews
The appeal is obvious. AI tools can:
- Overcome writer's block – No more staring at a blank page
- Structure your thoughts – Turn rambling notes into coherent narratives
- Save hours of work – What used to take an afternoon now takes minutes
JPMorgan Chase made headlines this year for officially allowing managers to use AI for performance reviews. Tech companies have quietly embraced it even longer. One engineering director described his process: feed a year of one-on-one notes into ChatGPT, get a "shitty first draft," then edit from there.
The efficiency gains are real. But so are the unintended consequences.
A Manager's Perspective: More Words, Less Meaning
Here's something I've noticed firsthand over the past two years.
Engineers who used to show up to feedback meetings with one-liners on their self-assessments—"shipped the auth system," "fixed production bugs"—are now bringing paragraphs upon paragraphs of elaborately written prose.
At first glance, this seems like progress. More detail! More reflection! But when you actually read through it, something's off. The writing is polished but hollow. Every sentence sounds professional, yet none of it tells me anything I didn't already know.
It's generic slop.
And here's the real problem: it doesn't help me give better feedback. It just takes me longer to wade through AI-generated filler to find the substance—if there is any. I'm not learning what challenges they actually faced, what they're genuinely proud of, or where they honestly want to grow. I'm reading what ChatGPT thinks a senior engineer's self-assessment should sound like.
The irony is painful: people are spending _more_ time prompting AI and editing outputs than they would have spent just writing a few honest sentences.
The Authenticity Problem
This isn't just my experience. HR experts are raising the same alarm: AI-generated reviews feel generic.
When you paste your job title and a few bullet points into ChatGPT, you get polished corporate-speak that could apply to anyone. Phrases like "demonstrates strong leadership capabilities" and "consistently exceeds expectations" start appearing in every review across the company.
Worse, the feedback becomes useless. Good performance feedback is specific, personal, and actionable. It references actual situations, real conversations, and genuine observations. AI can't manufacture these—it can only fabricate plausible-sounding alternatives.
As one manager put it: "ChatGPT doesn't know your people or your business. All it has to go on is what you tell it."
The result? Reviews that technically check the box but provide zero value to the person reading them—or the person giving feedback based on them.
Authentic AI Performance Feedback: Finding the Balance
The solution isn't to avoid AI entirely—it's to use it in a way that preserves your authentic voice.
The experts agree on a few principles:
1. Use AI as an assistant, not a replacement – Let it help with structure and phrasing, but the substance must come from you
2. Never copy-paste AI output directly – Always personalize with specific examples and context
3. Focus on your unique observations – What did you actually experience? What specific moments stand out?
But even with these guidelines, there's a fundamental tension: the moment you type into ChatGPT, you're already filtering your thoughts through its writing style. Your voice gets lost in translation.
A Different Approach: Speaking Instead of Typing
What if you could get the time-saving benefits of AI without losing your authentic voice?
This is where voice-first tools offer a genuine advantage.
When you speak your performance review instead of typing it, something different happens:
- Your natural phrasing comes through – You use the words you'd actually say
- Specific examples flow naturally – You tell stories, not bullet points
- The tone stays human – It sounds like you, because it _is_ you
Think about it: when you explain someone's performance to a colleague over coffee, you don't sound like a corporate template. You share real observations, specific moments, honest assessments. That's the version your manager actually wants to read.
How FormTalk Makes Performance Reviews Less Painful
FormTalk is a voice-powered form filler that transforms how you complete any fillable PDF—including performance review forms.
Here's how it works:
1. Upload your performance review form – Any PDF with fillable fields
2. Have a conversation – FormTalk's AI assistant asks you about each section
3. Speak your answers – Talk naturally, like you're explaining to a friend
4. Download the completed form – Your spoken answers appear in the right fields
The AI isn't writing your review—you are. FormTalk just makes the process conversational instead of confrontational.
For performance reviews specifically, this means:
- No more blank-page anxiety – The assistant guides you through each section
- Your authentic voice preserved – What you say is what appears on the form
- Faster than typing – Most people speak 3x faster than they type
- Actually enjoyable – Talking is easier than writing
And for the managers on the receiving end? You'll finally get self-assessments that sound like they came from a human—because they did.
Making AI Work for You, Not Against You
The AI performance review trend isn't going away. But there's a meaningful difference between:
- Letting AI write your review (generic, impersonal, low-value)
- Letting AI assist your review process (efficient, authentic, high-value)
Voice-first tools like FormTalk land firmly in the second category. You keep the time savings. You keep your authentic perspective. And the person reading your review actually gets useful feedback instead of paragraphs of polished nothing.
Ready to Try a Better Approach?
Next time you're facing a performance review form, skip the copy-paste prompts. Try speaking your thoughts instead.
Try FormTalk free – Upload your performance review PDF and complete it in a conversation. Your voice, your words, your review—just faster.