A 65-year-old former bank teller at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Kathryn Sullivan, has been fired by the bank, only for her to discover that the chatbot she had spent weeks training was the reason she lost her job.

According to The Sun, Sullivan, who served the bank for 25 years, was made redundant in July.

Her final tasks, which included scripting and testing responses for the bank’s Bumblebee AI, reportedly prepared the chatbot to replace her role.

Sullivan expressed her disbelief, saying, “I was completely shell-shocked, alongside my colleague. We just feel like we were nothing, we were a number.”

She acknowledged AI’s benefits but stressed the need for safeguards, “While I embrace the use of AI and I can see a purpose for it in the workplace and outside, I believe there needs to be some sort of regulation to prevent copyright infringements or replacing humans.”

Following the redundancies, CBA initially did not respond to Sullivan’s inquiries for over a week.

The bank later admitted its AI rollout had been premature and offered affected employees their jobs back, which Sullivan declined, citing insecurity in the new role.

A CBA spokesperson said, “The bank’s initial assessment that 45 roles were not required did not adequately consider all relevant business considerations, and because of this error, the roles were not redundant.

“We have apologised to the employees concerned and acknowledge we should have been more thorough in our assessment of the roles required.”

CBA continues to expand its AI initiatives. CEO Matt Comyn announced a partnership with OpenAI to address scams, fraud, cyber, and financial crime.

“Our strategic partnership with OpenAI reflects our commitment to bringing world-class capabilities to Australia, and exploring how AI can enhance customer experiences, better protect our customers, and unlock new opportunities for Australian businesses,” he said.

The incident has reignited debate over AI ethics, job security, and regulations to prevent companies from replacing human workers with machines trained by those same employees.

Globally, AI is increasingly handling customer service, financial analysis, and administrative tasks; raising concerns about the future of employment.

In Nigeria, the story resonates as banks and tech firms increasingly explore AI for financial operations, fraud detection, and customer support.

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A grandson of South Africa’s anti-apartheid icon, Nelson Mandela, said on Friday that he would join pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza with an aid boat from Tunisia.

“We particularly chose, as the South African delegation, to join the Global Sumud Flotilla here in Tunisia from an African point to say: Africa is part of this struggle,” Mandla Mandela told journalists in Tunis.

“As Africans, we know very well what it means to live under occupation, under oppression,” he said.

The Maghreb Sumud Flotilla will set sail on Sunday, organisers say, aiming to join other Gaza-bound boats that have already left from Spain and Italy.

Initially scheduled for last Thursday, it was postponed due to bad weather, and organisers have yet to confirm the place and time of departure.

Organisers have said about 100 activists have registered to join the flotilla from Tunis.

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The World Health Organisation has released $500,000 from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies to support the response to the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, announced this at a media briefing on global health issues on Friday.

Ghebreyesus also disclosed that 28 suspected cases and 16 deaths have been reported so far, including four health workers.
He highlighted that the UN body already has staff on the ground in Kasai, with more on the way.

The Ebola outbreak in DR Congo comes at a time when much of Central and West Africa continues to grapple with overlapping health and humanitarian crises, including cholera outbreaks, malnutrition, and displacement.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s last outbreak of Ebola virus disease affected the north-western Equateur province in April 2022. It was brought under control within three months, thanks to the robust efforts of the health authorities. In Kasai province, previous outbreaks of Ebola virus disease were reported in 2007 and 2008. In the country overall, there have been 15 outbreaks since the disease was first identified in 1976.

Ebola virus disease is a rare but severe, often fatal illness in humans. It is transmitted to people through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs, or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as fruit bats (thought to be the natural hosts). Human-to-human transmission is through direct contact with blood or body fluids of a person who is sick with or has died from Ebola, objects that have been contaminated with body fluids from a person sick with Ebola, or the body of a person who died from Ebola.

In the ongoing outbreak, it said samples tested on September 3rd (Wednesday) at the country’s National Institute of Biomedical Research in the capital Kinshasa, confirmed the cause of the outbreak as Ebola Zaire caused by Ebola virus disease.

The WHO boss said, “We’re joining rapid response teams to trace contacts and find cases, we’re collecting and testing samples, and we’re providing technical expertise in surveillance, infection prevention and control, treatment, risk communication, and more. WHO has also delivered personal protective equipment, laboratory equipment, medical supplies, and a mobile laboratory.

“We had previously prepositioned 2000 doses of Ebola vaccine in Kinshasa, which we are releasing to vaccinate contacts and health workers.  This is the 16th outbreak of Ebola in the DRC, and the government has rich experience from those previous outbreaks.

“I thank the government for its leadership in responding to this outbreak, and for its transparency in rapidly declaring the outbreak and sharing the viral sequence. To fund the response, WHO has released US$500,000 from our Contingency Fund for Emergencies, and we appeal to donors to support the response.”

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