Your Next Boss Might Be a Robot—Here’s Why That’s Both Exciting and Terrifying

Nobody wants a hot-tempered, capricious boss, or the one who constantly nitpicks since the day you stepped into the office. But imagine the opposite situation.: a boss who is utterly indifferent, methodical to a fault, without a sense of humor. A robotic perfectionist. Not a very appealing prospect either, right? Efficiency alone doesn’t make a great leader. No one I’ve asked seems eager to have a "perfect" AI boss. Even replacing the moody one.

With the rise of artificial intelligence, people started projecting their fears onto this, They feared mass unemployment. loss of wages, looking for arguments why humans are better performers.  It’s true that only people can fill some roles. But what if AI doesn’t just take your job? What if it takes the boss’s chair? What do you say to this? This is certainly better than losing a job, but workplace comfort matters.  It’s a thought-provoking dilemma, isn’t it?

I recently came across an experiment where AI was tested as a director and delivered exceptional performance metrics. The team included humans and AI workers. Interestingly, AI boss “fired” AI subordinates even more often than their human counterparts. Why? Machines lack intuition and don’t have the ability to see beyond the raw data, making decisions that seem illogical yet are ultimately right. AI couldn’t efficiently handle the events called “black swans”. 

Let’s not forget about AI “hallucinations” as well. Imagine your superintelligent boss making a catastrophic error at a critical moment. The fallout could be devastating.

The other important factor is human touch in leadership. A good boss can empathize and adapt. It’s not enough to look at numbers only. Imagine a talented colleague struggling due to personal issues. You know he’ll outperform everyone next month. But will an AI boss see beyond this month’s poor performance? I doubt so. 

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