US EditionBank Reverses Decision to Replace 45 Staff with Chatbot
Commonwealth Bank acknowledged its AI voicebot failed to reduce calls as expected, leading to a reversal of 45 job cuts and an apology to affected employees.
- On August 13, Commonwealth Bank reversed its plan to cut 45 call centre roles replaced by an AI voice bot after rising call volumes forced backtracking.
- The bank initially assessed the 45 customer service roles as redundant due to AI but admitted this did not consider all relevant business factors, labeling the decision an error.
- After the AI voice bot's rollout, calls increased by 2000 a week, causing management to use overtime and redeploy team leaders, while the bank invested over $2 billion and hired 9000 staff in 2025.
- CEO Matt Comyn said predicting AI’s long-term impact on jobs is difficult, while union leader Julia Angrisano called the reversal a major win but warned the AI job threat remains.
- The incident highlights tensions around AI use in banking, with CBA apologizing to staff and pledging to improve staffing processes amid broader sector concerns about digital efficiency measures.
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Sydney Morning HeraldReposted by 
The Age
The AgeBring back the humans: CBA’s embarrassing AI jobs bungle a salutary lesson
It is clearly a bad look for the bank that talked up embracing the new technology to so publicly mishandle this particular aspect of its implementation.
·Sydney, Australia
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources16
Leaning Left7Leaning Right4Center1Last UpdatedBias Distribution58% Left
Bias Distribution
- 58% of the sources lean Left
58% Left
L 58%
R 33%
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