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Middle Manager Thinks ChatGPT Can Replace Employees, Turns Out It Can Only Replace Him
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Middle Manager Thinks ChatGPT Can Replace Employees, Turns Out It Can Only Replace Him

Interview With Author Middle Manager Thinks ChatGPT Can Replace Employees, Turns Out It Can Only Replace HimCEO Maliciously Complies With New Manager’s Suggestion To Replace Team With AIMiddle Manager Won't Shut Up About Replacing Other Employees With AI, Digs A Hole For HimselfManager’s Plan To Replace Staff With AI Backfires Spectacularly As He Loses His Job To ChatGPT“Gone Off The RaiIs About AI”: Boss Replaces AI-Obsessed Middle Manager With AIBoss Teaches Middle Manager A Lesson Over Trying To Replace Hardworking Employees With AIMiddle Manager Wants To Replace Employees With AI, Boss Makes Him The First OneMiddle Manager’s AI Replacement Plan Backfires When He Loses His Own Job To AIMiddle Manager Wants To Replace Employees With AI, Gets Replaced Instead“Middle Manager Wants To Replace His Coworkers With AI? I'll Let Him Throw The First Stone”
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With the spread of artificial intelligence tools, many companies are looking to increase efficiency and cut costs. However, some techno-optimists are getting a tad too… overzealous. They think that AI is the perfect solution to every problem. When in reality, these tools are currently limited and little to no match to competent, experienced employees. Especially in niche roles.

Redditor u/CompetitionExtreme36, a business owner, went viral after sharing how his new middle manager wanted to replace some employees with AI. However, the situation took an unexpectedly poetic twist. Scroll down for the full story, as well as to read the reactions shared by the members of the popular r/MaliciousCompliance online group.

Bored Panda reached out to the author, u/CompetitionExtreme36, and he was kind enough to share his thoughts on good workplace management, as well as the future impact of AI on work. You’ll find our interview with him below.

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    Many employees are worried that they’ll get replaced by AI for the sake of efficiency and cost-cutting

    However, some bosses have their backs. One business owner shared how he put a stop to a manager’s plans to replace employees with AI

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    Image credits: DC_Studio / envatoelements (not the actual photo)

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    Image credits: CompetitionExtreme36

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    Image credits: Yan Krukau / pexels (not the actual photo)

    We asked u/CompetitionExtreme36 for his thoughts on what lies at the core of being a truly good manager. According to him, it’s a blend of different factors.

    “In my honest opinion, a good manager should maintain good workplace morale, along with good metrics, with the least involvement possible,” he said.

    The OP added that the only exception to (some minor) micromanagement might be made when dealing with external clients.

    Bored Panda was curious to get the author’s take on the future relationship between work and AI. “I hope AI ushers in a world with better medical treatments and scientific advancements, but the economic implications need to be dealt with,” he said.

    “I think a bareboned UBI [universal basic income] would be needed immensely,” u/CompetitionExtreme36 suggested.

    From his perspective, some decisions that could “mitigate labor oversupply due to AI” might include retraining existing employees, having less intense work weeks, or having just one person per family unit work.

    “I still think AI development should go ahead full speed, simply because of the possibility of much-needed scientific advancement,” he told us.

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    Image credits: Yan Krukau / pexels (not the actual photo)

    As the author mentioned, the new middle manager was a huge micromanager. This is utterly awful for practically any workplace environment: you’re only adding tension, spreading mistrust, and demotivating the staff if you’re watching their every footstep.

    Micromanagers are hardly ever satisfied with their colleagues’ results. They get mad when somebody completes a task differently than they would. They always want to be updated on what everyone’s doing at all times. And they absolutely love to criticize their colleagues’ work. In short, they can’t see the forest for the trees: they hone in on the details, ignoring the bigger picture.

    CNN reports that the use of AI will reduce the number of workers at ‘thousands’ of companies around the world over the next 5 years. According to a global survey of 2,000 executives, conducted by Adecco Group and Oxford Economics, 41% of respondents expect to employ fewer people because of AI.

    Look, let’s not beat around the bush. Some jobs are likely going to be replaced by AI, sure. But the more likely scenario is that AI tools are going to become so ubiquitous as they’re integrated everywhere and anywhere that we’ll be working alongside artificial intelligence.

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    It’ll be a future of collaborative work, where our own skills are enhanced by high-level programs and AI assistants. But until then, we are going to see massive shifts in the job industry.

    Image credits: Mikhail Nilov / pexels (not the actual photo)

    There will always be some managers and business owners who just focus on the upsides of using AI (e.g., smaller teams, lower overhead costs, fewer salaries to pay, and greater speed) while ignoring the downsides (e.g., AI ‘hallucinations,’ ‘soulless’ content, the lack of empathy, etc.).

    As we’ve previously covered on Bored Panda, roles that require a lot of creativity, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence are less likely to become automated. So, people like artists, therapists, and strategic decision-makers are safer than others.

    Workers like scientists and emergency responders, who have to deal with complex problem-solving in highly unpredictable environments, are also going to be very hard to replace fully.

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    Meanwhile, jobs that require a ton of empathy and human interaction are also safe(r) from AI. So, nurses, educators, and social workers can breathe a sigh of relief… for now. Unless something drastically changes in the development of AI tech, there will always be a demand for genuine humanity, creativity, and flexibility.

    Let’s also not forget that until Nvidia and other companies come out with better robot workers, tradespeople are also going to be in demand. If your job requires lots of adaptability and manual dexterity, you don’t have to worry much about the immediate future. Your skills are going to continue to be in high demand.

    Meanwhile, some roles that are more vulnerable to becoming obsolete include data entry, data analysis, telemarketing, cashiering, and technical writing. Anyone currently working with these things ought to be as flexible and adaptable as they can to stay relevant in the job market.
    Adapting to this new reality means focusing on hard skills (like programming and machine learning so you’re not left behind) and soft skills (like the aforementioned emotional intelligence, creativity, etc.).

    You should also focus on building your professional network so you have access to more job opportunities if you want to upskill or if you’d like to change your professional focus altogether. At the end of the idea, all of this comes down to you building a ‘brand’ for yourself as a working professional. What are your skills? What are your values? What do you stand for, and what do you bring to the table?

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    The story went viral, and many readers wanted to share their thoughts on what happened

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    Jonas Grinevičius

    Jonas Grinevičius

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    Storytelling, journalism, and art are a core part of who I am. I've been writing and drawing ever since I could walk—there is nothing else I'd rather do. My formal education, however, is focused on politics, philosophy, and economics because I've always been curious about the gap between the ideal and the real. At work, I'm a Senior Writer and I cover a broad range of topics that I'm passionate about: from psychology and changes in work culture to healthy living, relationships, and design. In my spare time, I'm an avid hiker and reader, enjoy writing short stories, and love to doodle. I thrive when I'm outdoors, going on small adventures in nature. However, you can also find me enjoying a big mug of coffee with a good book (or ten) and entertaining friends with fantasy tabletop games and sci-fi movies.

    Read less »
    Jonas Grinevičius

    Jonas Grinevičius

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Storytelling, journalism, and art are a core part of who I am. I've been writing and drawing ever since I could walk—there is nothing else I'd rather do. My formal education, however, is focused on politics, philosophy, and economics because I've always been curious about the gap between the ideal and the real. At work, I'm a Senior Writer and I cover a broad range of topics that I'm passionate about: from psychology and changes in work culture to healthy living, relationships, and design. In my spare time, I'm an avid hiker and reader, enjoy writing short stories, and love to doodle. I thrive when I'm outdoors, going on small adventures in nature. However, you can also find me enjoying a big mug of coffee with a good book (or ten) and entertaining friends with fantasy tabletop games and sci-fi movies.

    Viktorija Ošikaitė

    Viktorija Ošikaitė

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    I'm a visual editor here at Bored Panda and I enjoy a good laugh. My work ranges from serious topics related to toxic work environments and relationship difficulties to humorous articles about online shopping fails and introvert memes. When I'm not at my work desk, checking if every single pixel is in the right place, I usually spend my free time playing board games, taking pictures, and watching documentaries

    Read less »

    Viktorija Ošikaitė

    Viktorija Ošikaitė

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    I'm a visual editor here at Bored Panda and I enjoy a good laugh. My work ranges from serious topics related to toxic work environments and relationship difficulties to humorous articles about online shopping fails and introvert memes. When I'm not at my work desk, checking if every single pixel is in the right place, I usually spend my free time playing board games, taking pictures, and watching documentaries

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    Verena
    Community Member
    7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    AI fanatics always skip one important point in their cherry stories about "repetitive work will be done by AI, no need for people doing it": Amongst the 8 billion people living on earth currently, are many who only can do relatively simple, repetitive work. They do need to have work, to pay for food, shelter, utilities and education of their kids. The main purpose of AI is to make humans superfluous, because AI works faster, smarter and does not complain. Would the AI-fanclub please advise what to do with the billions of redundant persons? 1950 2,5 billion people were sufficient to "run" the globe. How many are necessary to run a fully automized globe?

    DB
    Community Member
    7 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    AI will just usher in a second wave of bad managers with no leadership skills. The first wave came when managers were chosen for their tech skills. People with actual experience were passed over for people who were better at using an iPhone. So now we have to look forward to people who can communicate only through AI and can't talk face to face. Good luck with that.

    Game Guy
    Community Member
    7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The reason this screams fake to me is the part about using ChatGPT for spreadsheet manipulation. I've been experimenting with that, and the thing's useless. You paste the .csv, and the first problem is that if you have more than 100 lines or so you overrun the paste buffer. So you tell it you'll paste it in chunks, and it says ok, and then when you paste the 3rd chunk it starts returning interpretations you haven't asked for yet which makes it "forget" previous chunks when you tell it you're still pasting. Then you give up and only paste 75 lines and start asking questions about the data, and it fails at even the most basic sort operations that SQL can do in its sleep. There's no way this guy was able to replace a human based on ChatGPT's capabilities with spreadsheets.

    Load More Comments
    Verena
    Community Member
    7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    AI fanatics always skip one important point in their cherry stories about "repetitive work will be done by AI, no need for people doing it": Amongst the 8 billion people living on earth currently, are many who only can do relatively simple, repetitive work. They do need to have work, to pay for food, shelter, utilities and education of their kids. The main purpose of AI is to make humans superfluous, because AI works faster, smarter and does not complain. Would the AI-fanclub please advise what to do with the billions of redundant persons? 1950 2,5 billion people were sufficient to "run" the globe. How many are necessary to run a fully automized globe?

    DB
    Community Member
    7 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    AI will just usher in a second wave of bad managers with no leadership skills. The first wave came when managers were chosen for their tech skills. People with actual experience were passed over for people who were better at using an iPhone. So now we have to look forward to people who can communicate only through AI and can't talk face to face. Good luck with that.

    Game Guy
    Community Member
    7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The reason this screams fake to me is the part about using ChatGPT for spreadsheet manipulation. I've been experimenting with that, and the thing's useless. You paste the .csv, and the first problem is that if you have more than 100 lines or so you overrun the paste buffer. So you tell it you'll paste it in chunks, and it says ok, and then when you paste the 3rd chunk it starts returning interpretations you haven't asked for yet which makes it "forget" previous chunks when you tell it you're still pasting. Then you give up and only paste 75 lines and start asking questions about the data, and it fails at even the most basic sort operations that SQL can do in its sleep. There's no way this guy was able to replace a human based on ChatGPT's capabilities with spreadsheets.

    Load More Comments
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