Merge API Software Engineer interview questions

Recruiter was nice albeit seemingly distracted. Like some entries before me I'm under the impression that the beginning stages are not undergoing any meaningful screening. When I applied, 3 things stood out to me... 1) Got an interview request within half an hour 2) The only available appointments were weeks out 3) When looking at a hiring manager's post on Linkedin, he mentioned he'd interviewed something like 48 interviews within the last 2 weeks. How many people are going through this pipeline? In the age of AI screening I think it's nice that they are giving people a chance to talk to a human. But it also signals to me that they don't really know what they're looking for. Is this some sort of new technique to waste everyone's time? At the very least, decisions seem to be made and communicated quickly.