Union representing WSIB workers says an AI chatbot is replacing them, after workforce cut

It's been around two months since the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board issued redundancy notices to hundreds of its employees across Ontario, including around 160 here in Windsor. Now the union representing those workers says that decision is part of an ongoing push to replace human staff with AI. I know from my contacts within the organization that they have an executive director that is working on implementing a chatbot to replace some of our customer service reps. So when you call in to the WSIB, you're going to be talking to a chatbot. Has anybody had a positive experience with chatbots in other organizations? I think they're using WSIB as a pilot to see how far they can go with AI making decisions on people's claims, deciding their lives for them. I do not trust this leadership. I believe that with them at the helm putting AI in place, they will deny more claims and we do not need that in Ontario. On Tuesday, Goslin joined Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky of the NDP for a news conference demanding the Doug Ford government take action. The government has an opportunity to step in and actually protect the workers at WSIB by reversing the job cuts here locally and across the province and more so support the injured workers that rely on having a person on the other end of the phone and not having to deal with the chatbot. But according to the WSIB, its reduction of employees and incorporation of AI tools has not impacted level of service or review of claims. Look, I can't explain people's conspiracy theories, but I can tell you that I'm a person, a real person working here at the WSIB. We have 4,000 real people working here at the WSIB, and we're here to help. We look at AI the same way that any other organization would. I think it's our responsibility to look at all sorts of technology that is out there. And how it can help our people do their jobs better so that they can spend less time on administrative tasks and more time talking to the person who's hurt and helping them through that journey through recovery and return to work. Lazarus said the WSIB currently has 12 Windsor-based employees who do in-person interactions. The province's Ministry of Labour did not respond to a request for comment. Dawson Chen, CBC News, Windsor.