Chinese Tech Workers Train AI Doubles as Companies Push Automation—Sparking Debate Over Job Security and Dignity
Key Takeaways
- ▸Colleague Skill and similar tools enable companies to systematically document and replicate employee workflows, accelerating automation of knowledge work in China's tech sector
- ▸Workers report mixed reactions: while some acknowledge the technical prowess of AI doubles, others express discomfort with the dehumanizing implications of codifying their expertise
- ▸Companies see strategic value beyond cost-cutting—capturing employee know-how helps identify which tasks can be standardized versus which still require human judgment
Summary
Tech workers in China are being encouraged—and in some cases instructed—by their employers to train AI agents to automate their own job functions, following the viral spread of a tool called Colleague Skill that can replicate a worker's skills, personality traits, and workflows. The project, created as a satirical commentary on AI-driven job displacement, extracts data from workplace communication apps like Lark and DingTalk to generate detailed manuals that AI agents can use to replicate specific employees' tasks and quirks. While some tech workers find the capability impressive, others report feeling unsettled by the process—describing it as reductive and alienating, as if their expertise had been "flattened into modules" to make them easier to replace. The trend reflects broader concerns about job security in China's tech industry, where companies are aggressively experimenting with AI agents to automate white-collar work.
- The trend has sparked dark humor on Chinese social media, with workers joking about automating colleagues before themselves to secure employment
Editorial Opinion
The Colleague Skill phenomenon exposes a troubling asymmetry in AI adoption: while companies gain structural insights into their workforce and pathways to automation, individual workers face existential job insecurity without agency or compensation for their participation. Though the tool itself began as satire, its rapid adoption reveals how quickly workforce automation can normalize when framed as efficiency gains rather than displacement. This raises urgent questions about whether workers should have rights to their captured workflows and whether companies should be transparent about automation timelines and retraining commitments.
