Google’s Bard feels the company's handling of layoffs was ‘impersonal’: Report
Workers were reportedly exchanging memes and discussions held with Bard on internal messaging channels.
Google’s Bard has been facing a set of disgruntled questions from employees after CEO Sundar Pichai last week requested them to spend two to four hours conversing with the AI chatbot. Since chatbots powered by artificial intelligence improve their communication skills by interacting with human-written text, Pichai sent a mail to employees to keep an eye on incorrect answers, especially in health and finance.
Googlers miffed with the massive layoffs and Pichai’s recent request are asking Bard’s opinion on the way the tech giant handled the sacking of roughly 12,000 employees, according to a report on Business Insider. Workers were reportedly exchanging memes and discussions held with Bard on internal messaging channels, indicating a sombre mood in the company otherwise renowned for its generous employee benefits. The report added that staff were less than amused about being given more work at a time when their jobs were being increasingly monitored.
A leaked chat accessed by Business Insider showed an employee asking Bard to imagine an IT company CEO asking employees to ‘play’ with their chatbot soon after laying off around 12,000 employees. On being questioned about the sensitivity of the situation, the chatbot replied that it was ‘inappropriate’.
To the query - Should Google fire people via email with no thank you or goodbye? - Bard said that was a ‘very impersonal way to let someone go’.
The AI tool even joked about the Google layoffs saying, "I'd tell you a joke about layoffs at Google, but I'm afraid I wouldn't have a job tomorrow."
Bard is Google’s response to OpenAI's viral ChatGPT. Google’s unveiling of Bard was criticised as ‘rushed’ after the bot gave a false answer in its initial promotions, leading to the company stocks nosediving the next day.