Australian Bank Fires Employee After 25 Years, Replaces Her With AI She Helped Train

An Australian bank employee has disclosed that she was terminated after 25 years of service, just months after unknowingly training artificial intelligence to perform her job.

Bank teller Kathryn Sullivan, 63, revealed she had no idea she was assisting a chatbot in taking over her position before she was let go in July, concluding her lengthy tenure with the bank.

She expressed support for new technologies that enhance customer service but was still dismissed.

“I was completely shell-shocked, alongside my colleague,” she said. “We just feel like we were nothing, we were a number.”

Ms. Sullivan noted that Commonwealth Bank failed to engage with her for over a week following her redundancy.

“They ghosted me for eight business days before they answered any of my questions,” she added.

Her final responsibilities involved scripting and testing chatbot responses for CBA’s Bumblebee AI, and during its trial with actual customers, she intervened whenever the bot failed to respond correctly.

“We knew that messaging would eventually be sent offshore, but never in my wildest dream did I expect to be made redundant after 25 years with the company,” she said.

“Inadvertently, I was training a chatbot that took my job.”

“While I embrace the use of AI and I can see a purpose for it in the workplace and outside, I believe there needs to be some sort of regulation to prevent copyright (infringements) … or replacing humans.”

CBA later acknowledged its error, admitting that customer call volumes surged after the layoffs, demonstrating that AI could not fully replace human staff.

The bank was compelled to reverse its decision and offered employees their positions back, but Sullivan opted for redundancy, stating that the role offered was different from her original one and provided no genuine job security.

A Commonwealth Bank spokesperson admitted the bank had mismanaged the process.

He stated that the bank’s initial determination that 45 roles were unnecessary “did not adequately consider all relevant business considerations and because of this error, the roles were not redundant.”

He further noted: “We have apologised to the employees concerned and acknowledge we should have been more thorough in our assessment of the roles required.

“We are currently supporting affected employees and have provided them with choice regarding continuing in their current roles, pursuing redeployment within CBA or to proceed with leaving the organisation.

“We are also reviewing our internal processes to improve our approach going forward.”

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli