Say No to AI CEO

Some worrying news from Meta, where the ubiquitous Mark Zuckerberg is apparently planning an AI CEO that will pop on screens and give feedback to colleagues across the company.

I do realise this is not the first of its kind and that avatars have previously been harnessed by leaders for a range of communication tasks. For example, I remember a major bank here in the UK used avatars in an onboarding programme some years ago, with virtual leaders popping up to guide new colleagues through the company. So, there are clearly some very interesting ‘use cases’.

I don’t think giving feedback is one of them.

Now, we only have the headlines at present, and the plan may well be more targeted and/or nuanced than the reporting makes it appear. Yet, in any scenario, feedback is sensitive, and can be taken personally. An ‘AI CEO’ sems unlikely to be the best messenger, and if the feedback avoids being personal, it risks being too generic, even corny.

More to the point, one of the major ‘buzzwords’ in internal comms in recent years has been “authenticity”, with a focus on making a genuine connection between leaders and their people. That brings benefits to all sides, and I would argue really strengthens the connection in a way an avatar never can. In fact, I fear the opposite might become true.  

We’ll have to see how this evolves, and only those inside Meta can truly say how this innovation will address an issue they have discovered or an opportunity they have spotted. On the face of it, though, it feels like a step back in employee engagement rather than an exciting development.