A US AT&T call center worker details working with AI, which generates call transcripts and provides suggestions, and wonders if she is training her replacement
To many people, chatbots and other technology feel like a ticking time bomb, sure to explode their work. But to some, the threat is already here. LinkedIn: Stephen Loynd . Bluesky: @kashhill.bsky.social . Twitter: @flitteronfraud , @nytimesbusiness , @justinhendrix , @ccwunited , @lizrhoffman , @michaelroston , @nytimesbusiness , @tnewmstweet , @datasociety , @stevelohr , and @doug_bloch . Forums: r/singularity LinkedIn: Stephen Loynd : Today's morning read from The NY Times: — “'There will be an impact on jobs,' said Mr. Altman, whose company developed ChatGPT.... … Bluesky: @kashhill.bsky.social : I'm not going to be able to handle not having humans on the other side of customer service calls. I desperately push 0 & yell “agent” repeatedly every single time https://www.nytimes.com/... Twitter: Emily Flitter / @flitteronfraud : Hats off to @emmabgo for this beautifully told story of Ylonda Sherrod, a star customer service employee for @ATT who is now stuck training a computer program to do her job https://www.nytimes.com/... @nytimesbusiness : When automation swallows up jobs, it often comes for customer service roles first, which make up about three million jobs in America. A.I. is now the next wave of automation. https://www.nytimes.com/... Justin Hendrix / @justinhendrix : “She is already finding her job growing more challenging with A.I. The automated technology has a hard time understanding Ms. Sherrod's drawl, she said, so the transcripts from her calls are full of mistakes.” cc @iajunwa https://www.nytimes.com/... @ccwunited : “A majority of U.S. call center workers surveyed this year reported that their employers were automating some of their work.” We can't afford not to talk about AI and what it means for our livelihoods: https://www.nytimes.com/... Liz Hoffman / @lizrhoffman : “The 230 customer service representatives at AT&T's call center in Ocean Springs, Miss., watched artificial intelligence arrive over the past year both rapidly and assuredly, like a new manager settling in and kicking up its feet.” Great line, great story https://www.nytimes.com/... Michael Roston / @michaelroston : “I always had a question in the back of my mind,” she said. “Am I training my replacement?” — heckuva story by @emmabgo https://www.nytimes.com/... @nytimesbusiness : As A.I. is integrated more in work, economists studying it have argued that it most likely won't prompt sudden widespread layoffs. Instead, it could gradually eliminate the need for humans to do certain tasks — and make the remaining work more challenging. https://www.nytimes.com/... Tim Newman / @tnewmstweet : “For the first time, this summer, she feels that she is taking up an issue that will affect workers beyond AT&T. She recently asked her union to establish a task force focused on A.I.” https://www.nytimes.com/... @datasociety : Call center worker Ylonda Sherrod is feeling the effects of AI on her job, a well-paid one she calls “life-changing.” Sherrod “sometimes feels that her life presents an argument for a type of job that one day might no longer exist,” reports @emmabgo. https://www.nytimes.com/... Steve Lohr / @stevelohr : Finely honed portrait of a call center worker and her AI angst. Will she be automated out of a job that has been her ladder to the middle class? @emmabgo https://www.nytimes.com/... Doug Bloch / @doug_bloch : “Ms. Sherrod, a vice president of the call center's local union chapter, part of the Communications Workers of America, started asking AT&T managers questions. 'If we don't talk about this, it could jeopardize my family,' she said. ‘Will I be jobless?’” https://www.nytimes.com/... Forums: r/singularity : ‘Training My Replacement’: Inside a Call Center Worker's Battle With A.I.