Content creator gets fired and replaced by an AI; company numbers start to go wrong, so they offer to rehire her, expecting to pay her less: ‘So they failed, learned nothing and came back expecting a discount’

Author image for Olivia Arocena
Olivia Arocena • Writer and Editor
Aug 25, 2026 8:30 AM EDT

Everything was normal until they offered to pay her less

This story's continuity was completely normal at first. A company fires an employee (or all of them), replaces them with a bot, and then everything starts going wrong, and they come back looking to rehire the employee they initially let go. Believe it or not, this is normal nowadays.

But this story was different. This company not only had the audacity to fire a UGC content creator to replace them with an AI, literally going against what UGC means (User-Generated Content, for those who don't know), but they also expected to pay even less for a service they found out was even more valuable than they initially thought.

Is this what business means to them? Or are they counting on their workers' desperation? Do they think she will be willing to accept less money because she now 'competes' with AI? Haven't they got enough proof that AI doesn't work as well? Are they malicious or just dumb?

As I was scrolling through TikTok today, I noticed a bunch of posts about people going 'offline' or preferring any kind of service offered by humans. I even saw an ad for a new 'smartphone' with no social media on it, imitating early-2000s cellphone aesthetics, and only conserving the map and a few other non-social-media gadgets from the new ones.

Anyway, I think we all know this employee should state their ground and demand higher pay, or at least the same pay she had before; but I'm noticing a pattern here. Do you think this 'offline' tendency is going to last?

Advertisement

  • Her service was so valuable they wanted to pay her less to provide it

    Cheezburger Image 10658566912
    via Vitaly Gariev

    The woman, suprised when the company made the ridiculous offer

    Picture does not depict real parties

  • Brands replaced me with ai, engagement tanked AND now they are back in my DMs offering 40% less than what they paid me before. THE AUDACITYY

    so i am just supposed to be okay with this?? for two years i made content for this brand, ugc kinda videos of me talking about products.I worked with 8 brands regularly
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • which i got through an agency.I was getting good money and thought it was stable. In march the briefs stopped, i checked my email every day waiting
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • and assumed i'd done something wrong and spent some time too going over old messages trying to figure out what. Found out through another creator four months later
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • that they had switched to ai generating voices and fake testimonials .Like could they have not informed mee? i just stopped existing to them and had to figure out why on my own about this.
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • i cried about it if i am being honest because it felt like a personal rejection even though it wasn't personal. Then this month my phone started buzzing again and it was the same agency
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • with same brands and it was like we never stopped talking. They gave me new briefs attached and at the bottom of each one a rate. every single rate was lower than what they paid me
    via NegotiationStrict473

  • UGC is not for the weak

    instagram
    via Collabstr

    Another day of content creation

    Still frame for contextual reference only



     

  • before they left and when i asked the poc about why they did not contact me for months,she acknowledged the ai experiment and why it ended. Basically the
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • engagement had collapsed, CTRs tanked because consumers could feel something was off and now they are back to giving contracts to "REAL" ugc influencers (yes she
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • said REAL ) So theres a reason companies like Icon pivoted from ai ugc to human ugc as a differentiator because the demand for human content was growing while
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • everyone were running the other direction. Brands that raised millions specifically for ai cmo and ai ugc roles are pivoting back to human creators and rebranding it as authentic content strategy in their press releases
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • but i am being offered less for it than i was worth before any of this happened. So they failed, learned nothing and came back expecting a discount.l
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • have asked them some time to think about it What do you guys think i should do?I need the money too
    via NegotiationStrict473

  • Amazing office culture

    Cheezburger Image 10658567424
    via Skytech Aviation

    The company expecting to rehire her by offering less money

    Model portrayal



     

  • randomhobo130 Name your price and let them make a decision. Your pay should be higher than what it was before IMO
    via randomhobo130
  • AlGunner Just go back and say what my rate is and if they will pay that you'll do it. Make a bit higher than it was before to reflect cost of living increases and the fact you now know you cant be replaced by Al at the moment.
    via AIGunner

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

workplace-stories toxic-workplace work workplace toxic-work-environment
Scroll Down For The Next Article