Bank Worker Made Redundant After Training AI Chatbot
Commonwealth Bank of Australia made 45 customer service workers redundant, including Kathryn Sullivan who had worked there 25 years and helped train the AI chatbot that replaced her role. The bank later reversed the decision under union pressure and offered the jobs back.
What happened
Kathryn Sullivan was made redundant from Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) after 25 years of employment, reportedly because her role was no longer needed after the deployment of an AI chatbot called Bumblebee.
Sullivan had worked for five years in CBA's customer messaging team, where she developed scripts and tested responses for the Bumblebee chatbot. She received just one hour's notice before being told her services were no longer required and was given no communication from the bank for eight business days after the redundancy notice.
CBA cited the new AI tool as the reason for eliminating 45 call centre roles, stating that Bumblebee had reduced call volumes by 2,000 per week. The bank later reversed the decision under union pressure and offered the jobs back.
Reported impact
Sullivan expressed shock at losing her position after 25 years, stating she never expected to be made redundant and that she had inadvertently trained the chatbot that took her job.
Sullivan noted poor communication from the bank, saying she was 'ghosted' for eight business days after receiving the redundancy notice before the bank answered any of her questions.
Index analysis
This is reported to be the first time an Australian employer has openly linked job cuts directly to artificial intelligence.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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