The Great Australian Bank Laid Off 45 Employees Due to AI: Why It Didn't Work

The Australian Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) decided to replace a significant number of call center employees with a chat bot powered by artificial intelligence, but the experiment was unsuccessful. Instead of simplifying work and increasing efficiency, the workload for the remaining employees increased, provoking a negative reaction from the union and forcing the bank to admit its mistake.

After implementing the AI bot, the bank found that the workload for employees did not decrease, but rather increased. This attempt to present layoffs as innovation was exposed, leading to protests from the union. Using artificial intelligence for layoffs of specialists is cynical and economically unjustified, emphasized FSU General Secretary Julia Angrisano.

As a result, the bank apologized to its employees and offered them the opportunity to return to their previous positions. CEO Matt Comyn acknowledged that not all factors were considered in the decision-making process, so he now offers affected employees a choice between keeping their current positions, transferring to other departments, or leaving with compensation. The bank promised to review its internal processes to avoid similar mistakes in the future.

The situation with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia is a vivid example of how the implementation of innovations can go awry. It is important not only to use new technologies, but also to consider all possible consequences for all parties involved, including employees and unions.