Replacements?
After being laid off, I’m helping build an AI version of myself to preserve decades of institutional knowledge. But how much can AI capture before knowledge gives way to judgment?
Or not?
by Jana Diamond, PMP
I just got laid off. Why the HELL am I helping them build a JANA-BOT to replace me?
The answer is actually more than “because I’m insane.” 😂
There are several things tangled together here.
I’m leaving. They still need the knowledge in my head. I’ve spent decades accumulating context that isn’t sitting neatly in SharePoint somewhere.
It’s judgment. History. Why something is done this way even though the documentation says that. Which rule is really a rule and which one is there because Jim-Bob complained loudly in 2022.
Which thing you do because you know the client likes it, even though they don't know how to tell you that and wrote the requirement in exactly the opposite way.
That history didn't come from one job, either. It came from decades of different jobs, different industries, different roles, different people, and different points of view. Somewhere along the way, all of that got tangled together in my head and became something useful.
So they want to preserve that. Naturally.
Except now I am helping build the thing that will preserve it after I’m gone.
BUT - what exactly are they replacing?
They can capture:
- my documentation
- my processes
- my project history
- my templates
- my answers to common questions
- maybe even patterns in how I respond
But can they capture why I know when the documented answer is wrong?
Can they capture the accumulated judgment that tells me, “Yeah, technically that's the process, but that dog won’t hunt here”?
And even stranger:
So where does institutional knowledge end and judgment begin?
And if that wasn’t enough of a question to ask, Why am I helping?
Seriously.
I have been informed that my services are no longer required. I am now using my remaining services to help construct a simulation of my services.
WTF. Over.
And yet, here I am.
Because I'm a project manager, dang it.
There's still a job to finish.
But I’m NOT documenting snark.
Adios. Sayonara. Goodbye. This is it.*
*Kent Robbins, “I Don’t Think She’s in Love Anymore,” as performed by Charley Pride
Originally published on Protovate.AI
Protovate builds practical AI-powered software for complex, real-world environments. Led by Brian Pollack and a global team with more than 30 years of experience, Protovate helps organizations innovate responsibly, improve efficiency, and turn emerging technology into solutions that deliver measurable impact.
Over the decades, the Protovate team has worked with organizations including NASA, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Walmart, Covidien, Singtel, LG, Yahoo, and Lowe’s.
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