After saying goodbye to 9,000 people, an Xbox manager has a suggestion for the rest of its workers: AI as therapy

Microsoft has been news again after announcing the Dismissal of 9,000 employees worldwide, a decision that has shaken both the company’s central departments and Xbox and their associated studies. The reason for this restructuring is not economic problems, but a Microsoft strategy to be more agile in the race for the development and implementation of AI.

In this context, Matt Turnbull, executive producer of Xbox Game Studios Publishing, published a message in his LinkedIn profile aimed at those who had lost their job. In his statement, Turnbull encouraged his former partners, to use AI to how to cope with the impact emotional and mental dismissal. The message was not well received.

Dismissed. Unlike the massive dismissals that occurred decades ago, the layoffs that are currently taking place in large technological ones They are not due to economic problemsbut to business strategies to flatten the structures of the companies to be more agile in the crazy technological career that the AI ​​is starring. That makes thousands of employees lose their job not because they will be replaced by an AI, but as collateral damage to their development.

The news of the layoffs has coincided with Microsoft’s promise to invest 80,000 million dollars in AIwhich has generated even more debate on the priorities of the company and the impact of the Employment automation. Those affected, including Xbox Game Studios and other key departments, now face a technological scenario marked by labor cuts.

An AI to cry. Amid This restructuringTurnbull published a series of recommendations for supporting their former employees and colleagues from Your LinkedIn profile: “These are really difficult times, and if you are going through a dismissal or even preparing silently for one, you are not alone and you don’t have to do it alone.” The manager was not referring to the fact that Microsoft will offer support to its employees. Invited them to rely on chatgpt to overcome the trauma of dismissal.

Matt Turnbull’s original message capture

“I have been experimenting with ways to use AI tools to help reduce the emotional and cognitive load that entails the loss of employment,” explained the manager in his publication. Turnbull’s recommendation soon generated controversy, since many considered ironic that a high position of Microsoft, a company that is reducing workforce to adapt to the AI ​​era, suggest to the dismissed use precisely those technologies as emotional support.

Microsoft more “Severance”. The reactions in social networks to the publication of the Xbox manager did not wait. The controversy intensified on platforms like x and Redditwhere Some users They compared the situation with the labor dystopia of the “Severance” series when the “separations” of the company occur, while others criticized the lack of empathy of the manager for inviting those affected to face the frustration of a dismissal using a chatbot as a therapist.

Touch the image to go to the original message

The comments on networks indicated that Turnbull’s proposal reflected a disconnection with the emotional reality of those who lose their jobs. “It is not a tool for the one that can replace your voice or your experience lived,” recalled Turnbull himself in his message, although for many, the suggestion of resorting to AI in a moment of vulnerability lacked the empathy that requires the situation and the They qualified as insensitive And little successful. Following the wave of criticism for the lack of empathy, Turnbull finally eliminated his LinkedIn comment.

A therapist without empathy. In its publication, the Turnbull invited Microsoft’s newly fired employees to seek emotional support in AI. Although more and more people turn to AI models designed to Offer psychological supportthese technologies They cannot empathize With the nuances of human suffering and its use can have negative consequences.

They have Documented cases in which the use of chatbots such as Chatgpt has led people to anguish situations or worsen its emotional state, which calls into question the suitability of these tools As emotional support In critical moments.

The AI ​​can help you find a job. Beyond the debate generated, Turnbull shared a series of suggestions to use AI as a personal assistant to find a new job, proposing Prompts Specific that could help with career planning, the update of the curriculum, the writing of messages to contact former partners. Points where AI can be of great help.

There is the circumstance that personnel selection processes are increasingly conditioned to the algorithmic selection of profilesso a solution to overcome that barrier is to use more AI for Optimize the curriculum and generate presentation letters.

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