the company decided to deliver a difficult restructuring announcement through a prerecorded ai avatar. the presentation was polished, upbeat, and entirely disconnected from what employees were feeling
the avatar thanked everyone for their hard work, outlined the changes, and ended with an enthusiastic message about exciting opportunities ahead. people sat in silence
i asked management why they hadn't delivered the news personally. they said the video ensured consistent communication. i told them consistency wasn't a substitute for taking responsibility
the next meeting involved actual leaders answering actual questions. it didn't solve every problem, but it was better than watching a smiling synthetic face read an unfortunate script