Receptionist in her 50s gets fired and replaced by AI system she trained: 'She literally trained the thing that replaced her'

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Sep 7, 2025 5:00 PM EDT

Losing your job is life-altering. In an instant, you go from having the security to buy food, make your car payment, pay rent or the mortgage, and have a good idea of how much you can save for the future, to having no idea what will happen next. You really feel like the rug has been pulled from under you! You now have 0 income, but you still have bills piling up, and now you also have to start job hunting (along with the thousands of other people who are also looking for work). 

For many of us, AI could easily take our jobs, and we get an uneasy feeling in our stomachs when we think about it. I actually spoke to an AI receptionist for the first time recently. It was very odd. Although she sounded fairly normal, she did say she was an "AI assistant," and for some reason, there were office beeps and buzzes included in the background of her audio (I guess to make her seem more realistic). After taking my information, she misheard my last name as "Melisa," and she wouldn't patch me through to a real person. In fact, I never got a call back. So 0/10, would not recommend using the AI receptionist. It took me 10 minutes to not get my question answered, when a real person could've answered my question in 30 seconds flat. There are so many job fields that will be replacing their real workers with AI helpers, and there's not really anything we can do about it. 

Check out this woman's story down below. Then, read about the "employee of the year" who was actually working 3 jobs, and worried about a video of theirs being posted on social media: "I had to… ask them to get it removed." 

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  • 01
    Woman in red shirt smiling while talking on phone with laptop in front of her in office setting
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02
    My mom has been working as a receptionist at a small clinic for over a decade. She's one of those people who genuinely cares about patients; remembers names, asks about families, always goes the extra mile.
    via u/Epsteinstan
  • 03
    A few months ago, the clinic introduced some new Al system and asked her to 'help it learn.' Basically, she spent weeks feeding it the scripts she used when answering phones, correcting how it responded, and making sure it could book appointments properly. She thought it was just a tool to lighten her workload.
    via u/Epsteinstan
  • 04
    Today, they let her go. They told her the Al can now handle everything she used to do for far cheaper, answering calls, scheduling, even basic patient questions. She's devastated. She's in her 50s, not super tech-savvy, and finding another job like that won't be easy. I can't stop thinking about how surreal it is: she literally trained the thing that replaced her.
    via u/Epsteinstan
  • 05
    Are you guys seeing this happen elsewhere? I keep reading about Al 'replacing' workers, but in this case it outright replaced her. Curious if this is an isolated case or the beginning of a bigger trend. Edit: For those asking, the clinic swapped her out for callivy. Honestly, beyond how badly it treated her, I don't think that tool is even HIPAA compliant.
    via u/Epsteinstan
  • 06
    NYanae555 Those A.I. "receptionists" are horrible. They DON'T do the job half as well as a human. They waste caller time. They're lousy at scheduling. I don't even think the Al is meant to actually DO the receptionist's job. The Al is meant to deter people from
    via u/Epsteinstan
  • 07
    calling so that callers are forced to use an online portal to make appointments. So sorry for your mom.
    via u/Epsteinstan
  • 08
    Iloveellie15 There's no way Al can do everything your mom was doing! Patients will get frustrated when they call now
    via u/Epsteinstan
  • 09
    lovellie3 Thats honestly crazy. We use Al at my medical practice but only for writing consult letters, nothing else. Using Al for answering phones etc completely takes. away the human aspect of a job that a robot can't replace. I honestly wouldn't go to a clinic if it ran its
    via u/Epsteinstan
  • 10
    phones through Al because theres also a level of privacy with that. If you need to tell it the reason you're coming in, that can a very personal topic and something you'd rather get sympathy for than a fake voice. I hope your mum finds something else she enjoys
    via u/Epsteinstan
  • 11
    Gray and metal office building stairs with receptionist and chairs on first floor
    via TECNIC Bioprocess Solutions on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 12
    Banjo-Becky If it wasn't Al it would be something else. Businesses are cutting too lean trying to adjust to the financial strain of lining pockets for the rich. What isn't going away are virtual assistants and contact centers. This is
    via u/Epsteinstan
  • 13
    usually contract work but you can often do it from home and it pays about the same. Depending on her skills she might want to consider a project coordinator or executive assistant role. They pay better and they there is a path to a higher position that pays better.
    via u/Epsteinstan
  • 14
    Have the feelings now but don't dwell on it. It was the business that made a bad choice. Your mom is now free to pursue a better opportunity. Where she was, her leaders didn't value her. She's leveling up.
    via u/Epsteinstan
  • 15
    Sitcom_kid I am so sorry this happened! I guess they have yet to discover that they cannot completely replace a human being with machines. We are not at that level yet. The only thing I can say is that she should put on her resume that she single- handedly created this system at her previous job.
    via u/Epsteinstan

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