Aug 22, 11:20 AM

Commonwealth Bank Rehires 45 Staff After AI Chatbot Misstep

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has reversed a decision to scrap 45 customer-service positions after admitting the artificial-intelligence chatbot it installed failed to reduce call volumes as expected. The country’s largest lender apologised to the affected employees on 22 August and said it had “not adequately considered all relevant business considerations” when it declared the jobs redundant last month. The Finance Sector Union, which challenged the layoffs before Australia’s workplace relations tribunal, said internal data showed call volumes had in fact risen, forcing managers to work overtime to handle customer queries. CBA is offering the dismissed staff the option to return to their previous roles, move to other vacancies within the bank or leave with a separation package. The episode underscores the risks companies face in rushing to deploy generative-AI tools. CBA, which employs more than 55,000 people, has signalled it will continue exploring automation and recently announced a partnership with OpenAI to expand its use of the technology across fraud detection and personalised customer services.

#Commonwealth Bank of Australia #Finance Sector Union #Australia #CBA #OpenAI

Written with ChatGPT .

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Commonwealth Bank Rehires 45 Staff After AI Chatbot Misstep

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