AI was supposed to make work easier.

So why are so many workers experiencing it as uncertainty, surveillance, job insecurity, restructuring, and the persistent question: Am I training my replacement?

This episode started with something much smaller. An AI system moved my Tuesday appointment to a Sunday. I showed up. The building was locked. The automated phone and text systems kept me from reaching an actual person. And when I finally got inside?

There was no appointment.

It was annoying. Slightly ridiculous. And it left me asking a much bigger question:

Where did the human go?

From there, we get into AI-driven workplace monitoring, restructuring, layoffs, Microsoft’s approach to human-led AI, the EU’s attempt to put guardrails around high-risk workplace AI, and the increasingly strange reality that some of the companies building the technology are now asking governments for stronger oversight.

The question isn’t whether AI is good or bad.

It’s whether organizations can chase efficiency without making human beings absorb the cost.

Because technology doesn’t decide how workers are treated.

Leaders do.

And if we’re going to redesign work around AI, dignity cannot be something we remember after the damage is already done.

We want to hear from you!

Support the show

If you have ever sat through a meeting wondering whether anyone was listening, received a pizza party instead of meaningful support, or been told to “bring your whole self to work” only to discover there were terms and conditions attached, you belong in this conversation.

Please Mute Your Trauma explores workplace trauma, psychological safety, dignity at work, meaningful work, and employee well-being through humor, research, and honest workplace stories.

Explore more episodes and resources at:

PleaseMuteYourTrauma.com

Have a workplace story, question, or random Wednesday thought? Leave Tiffany a message at:

888-629-5081

Because work becomes meaningful when dignity is protected.