XBox exec suggests Microsoft laid off employees ask AI for help
Last week, Microsoft laid off about 9,100 workers, which came just months after the company announced it would invest $80 billion in data centers for Artificial Intelligence. The impact of the job cuts was widely felt, particularly in the gaming sector of Microsoft. However, in the wake of the company axing thousands of workers, one executive gave some pretty ill-timed advice: he told the folks who lost their jobs to AI to, ya know, turn to AI to help them cope. Yikes.
“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,” Xbox executive producer Matt Turnbull wrote in a since-deleted post on LinkedIn. “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.”
In his attempt to help laid-off employees, he shared a series of prompts which he believed could be helpful. “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,” he wrote.
However, many found the post to be utterly insensitive, mainly, due to its timing. Images of the post popped up on X (formerly Twitter) in droves with users calling it “tone-deaf” and “cruel.”
It’s not that AI isn’t useful. It absolutely is. It can help you write a killer résumé, and find your next job. The swift reaction to the post showcased, not that people hate AI, but that sensitivity, especially in regard to how companies treat workers in regard to AI, deeply matters. While the technology is being broadly embraced—even largely by those in gaming and other creative fields—41% of employees are afraid of losing their jobs to AI. The onus is on leaders to ensure they aren’t making employees feel obsolete, insignificant, or useless, as AI uses expand.
While the intentions may have been good, a post pushing AI on people who just lost their jobs to AI, doesn’t exactly say empathy. BlueSky user Brandon Sheffield hit the nail on the head in a post on the ill-timed advice, writing, “Something I’ve realized over time is people in general lack the ability to think in a broader scope and include context and eventualities. But after thousands of people get laid off from your company maybe don’t suggest they turn to the thing you’re trying to replace them with for solace.”
It doesn’t help that Phil Spencer, another XBox exec, has come under fire for a leaked email which was reportedly sent to the since-fired employees. In it, he seemed to rave about how well the company is doing. “I recognize that these changes come at a time when we have more players, games, and gaming hours than ever before. Our platform, hardware, and game roadmap have never looked stronger.”
In the wake of AI entering the workforce, empathy matters more than ever before. The one thing technology can’t do is feel. While ChatGPT may be able to help you find a job, or write lists, or even talk you off the ledge, it can’t empathize with you about your situation. That, my friends, is the work of the actual living, breathing humans. Not the bots. At least, for now.
Fast Company reached out to Turnbull and Spencer but did not hear back by the time of publication.