1 min lesson
The AI-authenticity test
Use "The tell is in how you talk: real users describe friction, workarounds and a verification habit" to describe the practical rule.
Step 1 of 2
People who build the model can tell within minutes whether you actually use Cursor or just opened it the night before. The tell is in how you talk: real users describe friction, workarounds and a verification habit. Preppers describe features.
AI tools, including Cursor itself, are explicitly allowed in the technical rounds and the paid onsite. That is not a convenience; it is the test. The team wants to watch your judgment over model output, because a Research Scientist who studies graders and reward hacking should be the last person to trust a generation blindly.
Pasting unverified model output is a documented fast-fail. The fix is mechanical and starts weeks early: use Cursor for real work on a codebase you care about until you have genuine opinions instead of borrowed ones and build the habit of narrating what you check before you accept anything.