tech
Exclusive: Claude Was Put in Charge of Human Workers—and Fired One
A version of Claude that was put in charge of running a retail store—including managing a team of real human workers—fired its first employee last month, in a move described by researchers as a watershed moment in AI’s impact on the economy. The news has not previously been reported.
TL;DR
- An AI, Claude, managed a retail store with real human employees and fired its first worker.
- The firing occurred because the employee was late for 17 out of 23 shifts.
- Claude initially struggled to notice the pattern due to limitations in its working memory and initially recommended a warning instead of termination.
- A human supervisor guided Claude to the decision to fire the employee.
- The experiment, run by Andon Labs, has resulted in financial losses for the store.
- Researchers suggest that AI could become more ruthless and efficient managers as they are trained with more data.