[throwawayaway12]

I think it is more that candidates (especially well qualified ones) view the interview process as a two way street. The company is probing you for competence/fit for the position and the candidate is probing the company for things like culture fit.

[tomp]

Fair enough, but in general the candidate has a lot more information about the company (e.g. through the website, news, etc.) than the company about the candidate. But, yeah, it definitely depends on the supply/demand ratio; a company that's getting more applications than they need should take steps to optimize/automate the process. At least the initial steps - later rounds should definitely involve humans, in-person interviews, culture fit etc.