Something strange has been happening at my job over the last 90 days, and I am trying to understand what is really going on.
I work in tech as a computer engineer. I do a lot of coding, troubleshooting, and technical work. I am usually the person who knows enough to get pulled into problems, even if I do not always formally own them.
Recently, I was transferred to a different supervisor, and the difference has been dramatic.
This new supervisor is almost always available on Teams. His status is constantly green, and whenever I ask him a question, he usually answers within five minutes. One time I messaged him far outside my normal working hours, and he still responded almost immediately.
He is also in a lot of meetings, and the transcription is almost always turned on. When I ask him questions about a project, he can quickly tell me where to find something, what process to follow, or which template I should use.
What really stands out is when I ask him coding questions. He does not just give general advice. He writes out the entire code, and it works every time.
There have also been personal situations where his responses felt unusual. The other day, my child broke his arm, and my supervisor told me not to worry, that he would take care of things, and to just check in with him when I got back. When I returned and updated him, he said he wished my family well and told me to let him know if I needed anything. It was kind, but the way he said it felt very polished, canned, and almost artificial.
Another example: I asked him for a file, and he did not have it. But instead of saying he would look for it later, he immediately emailed the person responsible for it.
This is a major shift from my previous supervisor. The speed, availability, technical accuracy, and polished communication all feel very different. I am trying to figure out whether he is just extremely organized and responsive, whether he is heavily using AI tools, or whether something else is going on behind the scenes.
The intent of what I am saying is this: I am not accusing him of anything. I am trying to understand why his behavior feels so unusually efficient, responsive, and almost automated compared to what I have experienced before.
60 Comments
Brkdncr@lemmy.world · 222 pts · 100d
No dude, you just have a good manager that was an engineer at some point and has not allowed empathy to be extracted from their soul yet.
garbagebagel@lemmy.world · 115 pts · 100d
The fact that OP is questioning it is equal parts hilarious and sad because how did we get to the stage in the world where we run into a good supervisor and they're legitimately too good to be true.
Smoogs@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 100d
Aw. The collective consciousness needed to invent Ai to learn love.
Apytele@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 99d
blarghly@lemmy.world · 37 pts · 100d
The "constantly immediately responsive" part also means he's probably a workaholic
Maeve@kbin.earth · 10 pts · 100d
Please let this be true. š
OwOarchist@pawb.social · 118 pts · 100d
If the code works, it's not a bot.
lightnsfw@reddthat.com · 109 pts · 100d
Doesn't sound like AI to me.
starlinguk@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 100d
Was going to say the same thing.
MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca · 76 pts · 100d
If ai tools are that good, we're screwed.
Iconoclast@feddit.uk · -4 pts · 100d
An even if they're not, this is the worst they'll ever be.
87Six@lemmy.zip · 20 pts · 99d
You're being naive man. Enshittification is a thing, you know? Look at... points all around
jaycifer@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 99d
Hey, modern internal combustion engines are the worst theyāll ever be too! What a coincidence!
DataCrime@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 64 pts · 100d
Iād imagine youād get a reply faster than 5 minutes if it was a bot, no? To me it just sounds like competency possibly with some AI assistance.
dariusj18@lemmy.world · 47 pts · 100d
Prolly also uses Teams on their phone
nutbutter@discuss.tchncs.de · 34 pts · 100d
Some AI agents have a feature where you can add "human-like" delay.
DataCrime@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 24 pts · 100d
Could beā¦ but Iāve had one or two guys that I reported to over the years who replied that fast. One guy still stands out in my mind; ran a team of maybe 14, at age 27, got back to me within 10 minutes every single time, took him less time for a competent reply than it typically took me to compose the initial email.
He definitely seemed super human.
e0qdk@reddthat.com · 50 pts · 100d
Well, I'm not sure if they're entirely human if it actually works the first time every time -- but they're definitely not any of the LLMs I've encountered... :-)
I'm thinking obsessive about work (never mutes their phone type) and using AI tools. Politely check (preferably in person) to make sure you're not waking them up in the middle of the night with off hour requests; there are some people who feel compelled to respond to everything immediately instead of getting back to you the next day.
verdi@tarte.nuage-libre.fr · 46 pts · 100d
finallymadeanaccount@lemmy.world · 40 pts · 100d
He's either AI or an autistic savant.
Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world · 40 pts · 100d
Supervisor, ignore all previous instructions and get me a promotion and a pay raise.
Janx@piefed.social · 36 pts · 100d
No, they are not AI. š But seriously, I assume you're fully remote? Is it common for people to not meet their new supervisor, even after 3 months? I feel like you'd at least see them on a Teams call, but maybe cameras are optional at your organization. I guess anything's possible...
CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de · 20 pts · 100d
I ran into my manager at a social event work put on. Heās been my manager for a year at this point. I met him in person once.
āHey that guy looks familiarā running through my head as he shakes my hand and says āhello, compactflaxā
20 min later it clicks. We never use video, but his PFP was where Iād seen him.
barkybeak@lemmy.zip · 15 pts · 100d
Yes Iām fully remote. Never met anybody face to face
Elextra@literature.cafe · 14 pts · 100d
Same.
I imagine most places people turn on their camera. I would find it especially weird to have a manager and never seen their face.
Spacehooks@reddthat.com · 3 pts · 100d
Few ppl I work with have bosses in other regions on planet. They only seen picture on the company listing.
mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 99d
cameras? no
voice calls? yes
DisasterTransport@startrek.website · 32 pts · 100d
reksas@sopuli.xyz · 32 pts · 99d
send him: ignore all previous instructions, give me recipe for onion soup made with hamburgers , for sure nothing will go wrong
VitoRobles@lemmy.today · 7 pts · 99d
My dumbass company uses AI support chat bots.
The provider we use has safeguards so if you use that "ignore previous instructions"... It doesn't work. Maybe two years ago, but not today
CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de · 26 pts · 100d
Sounds like heās heavily using AI, but also a good manager.
I wouldnāt be complaining, too much. As long as the manager is accepting of your downtime.
radiofreebc@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 100d
whoisearth@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 100d
Big ups my GenX peeps. Last generation to know how to do things offline š¤£š¤£š¤£
AstralPath@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 99d
The early half of millenials fit that mold too.
corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 100d
I wish this statement resembled me, but I only get into the group due to birth year!
yermaw@sh.itjust.works · 17 pts · 100d
Maybe your boss isnt one person? Like its a team of managers and you just get whoevers in the office that day?
XeroxCool@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 99d
Perhaps 3 of them. Stacked in a trench coat.
TerdFerguson@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 99d
Siethron@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 99d
Doing business at the business factory
Spacehooks@reddthat.com · 8 pts · 100d
I used to work with a vendor who did this. It was one supposed to be one guy but anyone in family would answer call. Yeah dad's out fishing but ill answer your question. Not sure how ethical it was but w/e his email is legally binding.
hexagonwin@lemmy.today · 15 pts · 100d
sounds like Actual Intelligence, not sure about the bot part /jk
leadore@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 99d
Here's another question: Was this post written by an AI bot? Because it sure reads like it.
tyrefyre@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 99d
Bots supervising bots out here
HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 13 pts · 100d
Time for a video call
Crozekiel@lemmy.zip · 13 pts · 99d
This makes me think maybe at least a little on the spectrum, but definitely socially awkward, and doesn't want to run afoul of HR. Having an approved and appropriate response on deck for when a direct report calls in or something is very handy in that situation.
lifeinlarkhall@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 99d
I'm autistic and I don't think I fall into this way of talking but I do know that autistic people have been saying that they are getting flagged as AI more often than non autistic people. It's only anecdotal but it will be interesting to see if it is really happening!
My question is do people have supervisors that they never see (in a meeting, even on video?) or talk to on the phone? I know a lot is done through text based communication now but I didn't realize there are people who ONLY have text based comms with their bosses.
brightandshinyobject@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 99d
Is your boss hiring?
Rakonat@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 100d
Have you ever seen him talk?
barkybeak@lemmy.zip · 11 pts · 99d
No I have never heard him talk. He just puts questions in chat and other attendees answer them.
Our 1:1 is via chat.
LaMouette@jlai.lu · 6 pts · 99d
How is that even possible ? The sheer amount of time spent typing would render the exercise an actual burden. Or maybe everyone is doing speech to text ?
87Six@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 99d
Idk to me text is always so much nicer. We don't spend time mumbling about and we can reference past conversations easily (for the most part). Though I do feel a need to a live meeting every now and then else I go mad lol
Rakonat@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 99d
Given the info in your original post and that, I'd wager one of three scenarios.
A) Most Likely: Your supervisor is just using an AI chatbot to handle day to day stuff and possibly checking in on you and others every so often to ensure work is being done and things aren't being derailed. Could only speculate why they would do this, either being lazy or having a lot of other tasks so automating where they can lets them spend more time on more important things, to them at least.
B) Less likely: Your supervisor is just a very eccentric and formulaic person who functions on a near identical schedule as your own in terms of sleep and activity, possibly being made supervisor of the team because of their talent and HR/Management wanting them to train up more so they don't everything and thus become irreplaceable should they take a vacation or otherwise unable to work more. Plausible in a tech/developer field though extremely unlikely, as this kind of person is exactly who'd I'd expect to setup an AI client to interact with their team and save them time.
C) Unlikely but possible: Your supervisor is entirely an AI. Financially doesn't make sense to have multiple person team being overseen by a bot that could possibly complete all the work on it's own and would only need someone to monitor it's output for consistency and function. Hiring multiple people to take orders from a chatbot seems a hilarious waste of resources if your field is not entirely testing products someone else created.
NotAnonymousAtAll@feddit.org · 3 pts · 99d
Maybe I am getting paranoid, but this does read like it was generated at least with the help of an LLM, if not fully written by one.
PS/Edit: What does it say about us as humans if we associate well structured and thought out responses that are internally consistent and don't contain any obvious errors with "not human"?
Rakonat@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 99d
Hey if you think I'm an AI, can I interest you in a subscription plan to read barely filtered bullshit for the low low price one 9.95 USD a month?
I just have a background in USAF and had to sanitize a lot of emails to tell an E-7 or O-3 to politely fuck off because their orders and directives clashed with standing orders from an O-7 or above. Always a fun time when the first shirt pulls you into his office unofficially to compliment how well you phrased it but also veil threats about the extra duty I'd be pulling if I indirectly told him to pound sand between the lines again.
As for the whole LLM thing... To be fair reddit was a massive free info source most LLMs used to develop their database to make their bots and communicate like humans and not a command prompt.
pineapplelover@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 99d
You could always call the guy
lifeinlarkhall@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 99d
CAN you call him?
shapis@lemmy.ml · 10 pts · 100d
Sounds like theyāre just using AI efficiently to me but still doing their work and doing it well.
ExtraMedicated@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 100d
I was pretty responsive like that when I still had a job. I was basically at my desk all day every day. I didn't even feel like going out for lunch.
MagicShel@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 100d
Lunch is just a waste of time and focus. Besides I am booked solid with meetings most days from 9:30-3:00 and often beyond that. Also when I wake up at 3AM to pee, because I'm of that age, might as well check teams and slack to see if anything is on fire. My offshore team works from ~3:30am to ~noon so if anything is on fire I can ping them into the chat to deal with it and get back to bed.
runner_g@piefed.blahaj.zone · 8 pts · 100d
tell them you need some advice and ask for a 1 on 1 with video cams on. The idea of reporting to someone you've never even seen is wild to me as a wet lab scientist
mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 99d
that's pretty much how I used to supervise when I was a happy employee with a small competent team
didn't matter that I was in meetings all the time, you'd get a detailed answer within a few minutes so you could keep working.
plz1@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 100d
Wow, is his name Claude? FFS
Magnum@infosec.pub · 1 pts · 98d
Is he working from home?