Bank worker trains AI, gets fired and replaced by AI later

An employee at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) experienced the stark realities of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace when a chatbot she had helped train ultimately replaced her role.

According to a recent report by Yahoo Finance, Kathryn, a customer service representative with the bank for 25 years, had recently transitioned to an online support position that allowed her to work from home while caring for her son, who has mild intellectual disabilities. 

Part of her responsibilities included developing scripts for a new AI chatbot, known internally as Bumblebee, and overseeing its interactions with customers to ensure it responded appropriately.

The technology was designed to learn from her input, gradually handling more complex queries and mimicking human responses. 

In July, however, Kathryn was notified that she was among 45 staff being made redundant as the AI system assumed responsibilities previously carried out by human workers.

Kathryn had previously told the bank of her plans to retire by 2029 and feared for her ability to support her family amid the unexpected job loss, as per Yahoo Finance.

The decision was intervened by the Financial Sector Union, which brought the matter to the Fair Work Commission. Following union action, CBA reversed its redundancies, offering staff the choice of retaining their roles or accepting voluntary redundancy. 

Kathryn was subsequently redeployed to the bank's fraud and scams department.

Atlassian, an Australian tech company, recently revealed that 150 employees will be laid off, with some of their responsibilities set to be managed by AI. Telstra, an Australian telco, has also acknowledged that AI could reduce its workforce in the coming years as the technology begins to outperform humans in certain roles.

In response, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has called for stricter AI regulations to safeguard workers from experiencing outcomes similar to Kathryn's.