A bank dismisses employees to replace them with an AI chatbot, and rehires them due to poor results
Around the world, companies are looking to reduce the number of employees and replace them with AI. However, this strategy often doesn’t work as expected. In this case, a bank in Australia had to rehire workers after initially laying them off due to the failure of the chatbot they had launched to take over their roles.
Last month, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia announced the dismissal of 45 customer service employees, introducing a new AI-powered “voice bot” to supposedly handle their tasks, as reported by Bloomberg. The bank claimed that the chatbot would significantly reduce call volumes. However, the Australian Finance Sector Union, representing bank workers, disputed this claim and took legal action, leading the bank to admit its mistake.
The bank’s statements
A bank spokesperson apologized to the affected employees, acknowledging that a more thorough evaluation of their positions should have been conducted. The bank also offered various options to the dismissed employees, including the opportunity to continue in their previous roles. Gizmodo reached out to CBA for further details.
The union spoke out, stating: “Last month, CBA announced the layoffs citing the use of a new AI voice bot that purportedly reduced call volumes. However, our members inform us that this is not true and does not reflect the actual situation. In reality, there are more calls, putting pressure on CBA to manage the situation and requiring team leaders and other staff to work extra to address customer needs.”
While there are no further details on this incident, it serves as yet another example of companies rushing into AI implementation without considering all implications. Ultimately, AI remains an experimental technology, and its outcomes can vary. A highly publicized MIT study recently revealed that 95% of AI pilot programs across different companies have failed. With such statistics, companies would be wise to retain their employees, at least for now.
This article has been translated from Gizmodo US by Lucas Handley. can find the original version.
