An Australian bank worker revealed she was fired after 25 years, months after unknowingly training an AI system to take over her job.

Kathryn Sullivan, 63, said she did not realize she was helping create a chatbot that would eventually replace her role before being made redundant in July, ending her long career with the bank.

She had always supported new technology that could improve customer service, but despite this, she was let go.

“I was completely shocked, along with my colleague,” she said. “We felt like we were nothing, just a number.”

Sullivan also said the Commonwealth Bank did not communicate with her for over a week after she was made redundant.

“They ignored me for eight business days before answering any of my questions,” she added.

Her final duties involved writing scripts and testing responses for CBA’s Bumblebee AI, and she stepped in whenever the chatbot could not answer customers properly.

“Even though we knew the messaging might eventually go offshore, I never imagined I would lose my job after 25 years,” she said.

“Inadvertently, I was training a chatbot that took my job,” she added.

While she sees a place for AI in the workplace, she believes there should be regulations to prevent AI from replacing humans unfairly or infringing on copyrights.

The bank later admitted it had made a mistake, noting that customer calls increased after staff were laid off, showing AI could not fully replace employees.

The bank then offered the employees their jobs back, but Sullivan chose redundancy because the role offered was different from her original position and provided no real security.

A Commonwealth Bank spokesperson said the initial decision to cut 45 roles did not consider all business factors, and the bank apologized for the mishandling of the process.

The bank added that it is supporting affected employees and reviewing internal processes to improve future decisions.