Microsoft has laid off about 9,000 workers in the midst of a newly-announced $80 billion AI investment — and apparently, those who just lost their jobs should be talking to ChatGPT about it.
As Aftermath reports, an executive producer at Microsoft-owned Xbox ended up with egg on his face after suggesting that laid off workers pour their hearts out to AI.
“These are really challenging times, and if you’re navigating a layoff or even quietly preparing for one, you’re not alone and you don’t have to go it alone,” that producer, Matt Turnbull, said in a since-deleted LinkedIn post that Aftermath thankfully screenshotted for posterity. “No AI tool is a replacement for your voice or your lived experience. But at a time when mental energy is scarce, these tools can help get you unstuck faster, calmer, and with more clarity.”
“I know these types of tools engender strong feelings in people, but l’d be remiss in not trying to offer the best advice I can under the circumstances,” he continued. “I’ve been experimenting with ways to use [large language model] Al tools (like ChatGPT or Copilot) to help reduce the emotional and cognitive load that comes with job loss.”
Yes, you read that right: a Microsoft boss was telling those just laid off by the tech giant that they should use chatbots — run or funded by the company that just fired them — to avoid crying on a company shoulder.
Following that phoned-in introduction, Turnbull offered a few potential prompts for AI as a job loss grief counselor, including those that help with career planning, resume-building, networking, and, our personal favorite, “emotional clarity [and] confidence.”
“I’m struggling with imposter syndrome after being laid off,” Turnbull’s “clarity” prompt reads. “Can you help me reframe this experience in a way that reminds me what I’m good at?”
It comes as little surprise, given how absolutely tone-deaf those suggestions are, that folks on social media had quite a lot to say to the Xbox executive.
“The new Severance season is insanely good,” joked one commentator on X-formerly-Twitter.
As another irked observer wrote on the r/gaming subreddit, “anyone that tells people who were fired to talk to a computer chat algorithm for therapy is insane.”
Indeed, gamers seem to be the most affronted by Turnbull’s attempt at sensitivity and advice, with another X commentator remarking that his response to those layoffs was one of “the most tone-deaf and cruelest things” they’d ever seen.
“I hope this finally shatters the illusion for some people that Xbox is not your good buddy,” that same user quipped.
Though it’s hard to say whether the Xbox producer’s sentiments were sincere or not, it’s clear from the subsequent deletion of the post that he was made to feel some type of way about it after putting it out into the world — and honestly, that potential embarrassment is the most we can hope for with these sorts of tech bros.
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