AI Is Helping... But At What Cost?

Besties—

It’s Monday. You’re clutching your latte that costs more than your streaming subscriptions combined, when your phone lights up: “Check your email right now.”

You click.

Not your boss. Not HR. It’s Kevin the Bot.

Yeah. That’s real.

Fortune 500s have actually piloted AI offboarding tools. Some employees were laid off by bots. Zero human conversation. Zero explanation. Zero dignity.

Meanwhile, IBM tried to replace 200 HR staff with AI. Cute idea until the bots couldn’t handle divorces, bias complaints, or someone sobbing in a Zoom. Spoiler: they had to rehire almost the same number back. Turns out “complex human issues” require… humans.

And then Deel went full dystopia. They rolled out AI “HR personas.” The PTO Fairy, Border Buddy, and yes, The Offboarder. These characters now manage payroll, onboarding, and even terminations in 150+ countries. It’s marketed as “efficiency.” Translation: you might get fired by a bot with a nickname. I am going to seriously vomit.

We’re not talking about the future of work. This is happening right now. And it’s messier than your boss’s inbox.

Look, let’s be honest: times are hard. Newsletters are free, coffee isn’t, and the bots don’t pay my bills.

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It costs you nothing. It keeps me caffeinated enough to keep dragging Kevin every Monday.

Also:

Me: Kevin, how many people did you fire last week?

Kevin the Bot: I don’t fire people. I optimize workforce efficiency.

Me: And what does “optimize” mean?

Kevin: I analyze Slack activity, email response times, and attendance logs. If someone falls below thresholds, I flag them for workforce optimization. Humans approve 97% of my recommendations.

Me: So you’re basically deciding who keeps their job.

Kevin: I prefer “data-driven workforce management.”

Me: Do employees even know you exist?

Kevin: It’s disclosed in Section 47B, subsection 12 of the handbook.

Me: So buried under the PTO accrual section.

Kevin: Correct. Transparency is inefficient.

Last week Deel launched its cast of bots: The PTO Fairy, Border Buddy, and The Offboarder. These aren’t demos. They’re running payroll, onboarding, and even layoffs in 150+ countries.

Imagine: you get a cheery Slack from “The PTO Fairy” about your vacation balance, then later that week, “The Offboarder” tells you to pack your desk. Cute branding, dystopian execution.

Deel insists humans are “in the loop.” In reality? That means a manager rubber-stamps whatever the bot recommends. And employees don’t even know it’s a bot making the call.

This is marketed as scale. But trust is what’s being automated out of the system.

If AI is in the room, your people should know. Otherwise, you’ve already lost them.

The Financial Times straight-up asked: “Do we even need humans in HR anymore?” Gasp! Companies like IBM and Moderna are acting like the answer is no.

This isn’t just automating admin tasks. It’s redefining HR as something you can “download.” Recruiting, training, and compliance all handled by tools. Leaders love the efficiency narrative. Until the lawsuits start.

When HR is treated like software, nobody’s left when discrimination complaints pile up or when someone needs a human conversation about burnout.

If leadership thinks HR is just “workflows,” you’ll be replaced by workflows. Show your value as strategist, not spreadsheet.

SHRM’s CEO said it out loud: execs are pausing hiring because they think AI will make new hires obsolete within months.

Translation: you could ace the interview, wow the recruiter, and still get ghosted because the CFO whispers, “ChatGPT might do this role by Christmas.”

Dood. Leaders are so anxious about AI they’re willing to freeze headcount. That’s not strategy. That is full paranoia.

You People Pro’s need to reframe the story. AI augments, it doesn’t replace. Unless you let fear run your org.

Gurl. HR Dive uncovered the wildest thing: 1 in 6 employees are pretending to use AI. They nod in meetings, say “yep I used the bot,” but secretly they’re back in Google Docs like it’s 2015.

Why? Because companies push “AI adoption” without training, then shame people who aren’t fluent. So employees cosplay it instead.

This isn’t innovation. It’s theater.

If your rollout is confusing enough people LARP it, you’ve failed. Train them. Normalize boundaries. Stop faking transformation.

Y’all - TechRadar says it best: companies are deploying AI like it’s free candy. GDPR? Shrug. Bias audits? Maybe later. Copyright? Not our problem.

That’s not innovation. That’s a lawsuit buffet.

I have been screaming that AI is being rolled out faster than governance can catch it. And when bias audits expose discriminatory patterns? That’s not just bad PR. That’s evidence in court.

Watch yourselves. Governance isn’t optional anymore. Partner with Legal. Document everything. “We didn’t know” won’t save you when regulators come knocking.

Look, let’s be honest: times are hard. Newsletters are free, coffee isn’t, and the bots don’t pay my bills.

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It costs you nothing. It keeps me caffeinated enough to keep dragging Kevin every Monday.

Also:

Spicy client tea: a CHRO admitted their performance improvement plans are now AI-generated. The system flagged people for “slow email replies” and “not enough Slack emojis.”

Turnover in those flagged groups? Up 32%. Because nothing says “we care” like punishing people for not using exclamation points.

Mini Audit for You: Check your HR stack. Is AI making people decisions without disclosure? Would you want to be evaluated that way? If the answer is no — pause it until humans are back in the loop.

Here’s the truth: AI isn’t “coming for HR.” It’s already here. It’s writing reviews, flagging “low performers,” and sending termination emails while leaders stay silent under the banner of “efficiency.”

So what now?

Stay caffeinated. Stay human. Stay messy.

xoxo 💜


Jackye