When Microsoft announced a wave of layoffs affecting nearly 9,000 employees, predominantly from the Xbox gaming division, the tech world braced for the usual ripple effects: shaken teams, disrupted projects, anxious job seekers, and damning headlines on the precariousness of employment in the digital age. Yet, this round of job cuts stands apart—not just for its scale or the renowned division at its epicenter, but for the digital-age remedy offered to departing staff: artificial intelligence as therapist, coach, and confidant.
The story ignited when Matt Turnbull, a senior producer at Xbox Game Studios Publishing, took to LinkedIn to share his advice for newly jobless colleagues and wider industry peers. In a now-deleted post circulated widely by developer Brandon Sheffield and other gaming voices online, Turnbull advocated for the use of generative AI tools—including Microsoft Copilot and competitors like ChatGPT—as a means of managing the emotional and practical toll of being laid off. He outlined a set of AI prompts, from rewriting resumes to addressing post-layoff imposter syndrome and drafting outreach messages to former teammates.
At first glance, Turnbull’s intention might be interpreted as pragmatic, even empathetic. After all, in an age where AI is readily accessible, why not lean on digital tools for support during professional upheaval? But the public backlash was swift and vehement, with detractors labeling the advice “gross,” “robotic,” and “completely detached from reality.” For many, the suggestion that employees—whose jobs may have been made redundant in part due to the rise of the very AI they’re being encouraged to consult—should rely on that same technology to process their grief smacked of tone-deaf corporate distancing.
Mustafa Suleyman, head of Copilot at Microsoft, has gone as far as framing the tool as a “personalised adviser” that can support not just workplace efficiency but emotional resilience. Speaking to Fortune and echoed in keynote addresses, he claims Copilot has the ability to “sense a user’s comfort boundaries, diagnose issues, and suggest solutions.” These are ambitious powers, straddling the line between personal assistant and would-be counselor—a positioning that's both enticing and fraught with risk.
Satya Nadella, the company’s CEO, has similarly championed AI’s utility as a “co-pilot” for navigating the stresses and complexities of modern work. But, despite these assurances, the idea of artificial intelligence as a substitute—or even supplement—for human connection and genuine mental health care remains deeply divisive.
Such an environment fuels a central irony: technological advances, particularly in AI, are driving job displacement across the industry—yet AI is now being promoted as the tool for displaced workers to comprehend, and perhaps even ease, their own suffering. For critics, this disconnect crystallizes much of what’s unsettling about the tech sector’s modern ethos: algorithmic solutions to the human fallout of algorithmic disruption.
“I can’t believe this is real,” wrote one former Xbox staffer on social media. “We lose our jobs to AI, and then get told to ask AI how to feel better about it. It’s dystopian.”
Others zeroed in on the role of Copilot and similar tools in generating the very efficiencies that lead companies to streamline workforces. "The gall," wrote Brandon Sheffield on Bluesky, sharing screenshots of the deleted post. "This is how they cope—tell the fired to bite the bullet with the thing that likely caused the cutbacks." The optics—particularly when aligned with widely circulating narratives about “AI taking your job”—were poor, no matter the underlying good intentions.
But mental health professionals widely caution against positioning general-purpose generative AIs as genuinely therapeutic tools. The American Psychological Association and other leading global bodies have repeatedly warned that while chatbots can provide comfort, resource lists, or basic coping strategies, they lack the human understanding, ethical safeguards, and clinical acumen required for true therapy. Misdiagnosis, emotional detachment, and the perpetuation of harmful misinformation remain significant dangers.
In practice, Copilot and ChatGPT are language models built to generate plausible, relevant text based on vast training data—not to diagnose, treat, or counsel with understanding about unique individual circumstances, trauma histories, or psychological nuance. Any efforts, no matter how well-intentioned, to position AI as a substitute for trained professionals risk promoting false confidence and neglect of deeper needs.
Microsoft has issued public commitments to privacy, but as with all large AI platforms, the risk of user data being used for model training, personalization, or even advertising remains a legitimate concern. Regulatory environments such as Europe’s GDPR set stringent standards, but effective enforcement and audit can lag technology's march.
For those facing a sudden, involuntary job loss, the idea that their private struggles could become fodder for further technological optimization only intensifies the sense of violation. This remains a significant challenge for Microsoft and all firms deploying AI for behavioral and emotional support: transparency, consent, and clear boundaries are non-negotiable.
Former Xbox team members and wider game developers described the AI advice as alienating and impersonal. “When layoffs hit, people need honesty, context, and empathy from leaders,” wrote one anonymous developer on industry forum ResetEra. “What they got instead was a link to a robot. It’s the opposite of support—it’s abandonment dressed up as innovation.”
Current Microsoft employees voiced anxiety that such episodes further erode faith in leadership at a time when morale is already shaky. The software giant’s aggressive pivot to AI-first strategy, while technically and financially savvy, risks exacerbating a sense that human contribution is being systematically undervalued.
There is also evidence that many users, particularly among digital natives, feel less stigma talking to a machine about their feelings than they do reaching out to a human therapist or even a trusted peer. The capacity to “talk out loud,” experiment with reframing, or simulate interviews in a judgment-free space can support confidence-building and skill development.
Where the advice becomes fraught is in the leap from coping tool to wellness panacea. Offering a script for managing imposter syndrome or drafting a layoff announcement email is very different from guiding someone through the complex stages of grief, loss, and reinvention that mass layoffs trigger. The best digital interventions recognize their own limits—and clearly route users to real human resources when needed.
If there’s a lesson in the backlash, it is not that AI is without value for those navigating uncertain times, but that its application demands nuance, humility, and above all, humanity from those in positions of authority. Digital tools must be positioned as adjuncts to, not replacements for, the social bonds, ethical support, and leadership accountability people need most during times of upheaval.
Employee departures, especially on the scale witnessed at Xbox, merit responses that are honest, direct, and grounded in the lived realities of loss. Offering AI-generated advice may reflect a new tech zeitgeist, but it cannot—should not—replace the work of acknowledging harm, supporting transitions, and rebuilding trust.
For organizations pursuing AI integration, the lesson is clear: there is no shortcut through human vulnerability. AI can augment, facilitate, and empower—indeed, Microsoft Copilot and similar tools hold enormous promise for easing certain practical burdens of modern work. But neither Copilot nor any large language model can fully substitute for leadership, community, or real mental health care. As AI becomes ever more embedded in our professional and personal landscapes, it is critical to foreground the human at every step, ensuring tools remain just that—and not unwitting arbiters of our collective wellbeing.
As the industry moves forward, striking this balance will become not just a matter of technological progress, but a barometer for corporate integrity, employee trust, and ultimately, the social value of innovation itself.
Source: Business Today 'Feeling lost? Ask Copilot': Microsoft exec suggests AI therapy to laid off employees - BusinessToday
The Controversy at the Heart of Microsoft’s AI Advice
The story ignited when Matt Turnbull, a senior producer at Xbox Game Studios Publishing, took to LinkedIn to share his advice for newly jobless colleagues and wider industry peers. In a now-deleted post circulated widely by developer Brandon Sheffield and other gaming voices online, Turnbull advocated for the use of generative AI tools—including Microsoft Copilot and competitors like ChatGPT—as a means of managing the emotional and practical toll of being laid off. He outlined a set of AI prompts, from rewriting resumes to addressing post-layoff imposter syndrome and drafting outreach messages to former teammates.At first glance, Turnbull’s intention might be interpreted as pragmatic, even empathetic. After all, in an age where AI is readily accessible, why not lean on digital tools for support during professional upheaval? But the public backlash was swift and vehement, with detractors labeling the advice “gross,” “robotic,” and “completely detached from reality.” For many, the suggestion that employees—whose jobs may have been made redundant in part due to the rise of the very AI they’re being encouraged to consult—should rely on that same technology to process their grief smacked of tone-deaf corporate distancing.
AI and the Evolving Role in Workplace Wellbeing
Microsoft’s internal rhetoric around generative AI has shifted dramatically over the past two years. As Copilot, its flagship assistant, has been woven into the fabric of Windows, Microsoft 365, and its cloud ecosystem, messaging from leadership has focused on productivity, creativity, and, increasingly, personal wellbeing.Mustafa Suleyman, head of Copilot at Microsoft, has gone as far as framing the tool as a “personalised adviser” that can support not just workplace efficiency but emotional resilience. Speaking to Fortune and echoed in keynote addresses, he claims Copilot has the ability to “sense a user’s comfort boundaries, diagnose issues, and suggest solutions.” These are ambitious powers, straddling the line between personal assistant and would-be counselor—a positioning that's both enticing and fraught with risk.
Satya Nadella, the company’s CEO, has similarly championed AI’s utility as a “co-pilot” for navigating the stresses and complexities of modern work. But, despite these assurances, the idea of artificial intelligence as a substitute—or even supplement—for human connection and genuine mental health care remains deeply divisive.
The Layoff Landscape: AI as Both Villain and Remedy
For the thousands of newly unemployed Microsoft workers, the subtext of Turnbull’s advice loomed large. Over the past two years, job cuts at Microsoft have surpassed 25,000, with 6,000 in the first half of 2025 alone following 10,000 in 2023. Statements from executives consistently cite the necessity of adapting to a “dynamic marketplace,” with AI integration held up as a key lever for remaining competitive.Such an environment fuels a central irony: technological advances, particularly in AI, are driving job displacement across the industry—yet AI is now being promoted as the tool for displaced workers to comprehend, and perhaps even ease, their own suffering. For critics, this disconnect crystallizes much of what’s unsettling about the tech sector’s modern ethos: algorithmic solutions to the human fallout of algorithmic disruption.
Social Media, Perception, and the Limits of AI Empathy
Much of the controversy unfolded in public spaces: the original LinkedIn post quickly made the rounds on Bluesky and Twitter/X, where responses ranged from exasperated disbelief to angry, meme-fueled derision. Many saw it as a metaphor for Silicon Valley’s increasing reliance on software and machine learning to address problems fundamentally rooted in human need and social contract.“I can’t believe this is real,” wrote one former Xbox staffer on social media. “We lose our jobs to AI, and then get told to ask AI how to feel better about it. It’s dystopian.”
Others zeroed in on the role of Copilot and similar tools in generating the very efficiencies that lead companies to streamline workforces. "The gall," wrote Brandon Sheffield on Bluesky, sharing screenshots of the deleted post. "This is how they cope—tell the fired to bite the bullet with the thing that likely caused the cutbacks." The optics—particularly when aligned with widely circulating narratives about “AI taking your job”—were poor, no matter the underlying good intentions.
Is Copilot Therapy? What the Experts Say
The wave of layoffs and ensuing Copilot controversy has reignited debates around the suitability of AI-driven mental health advice. Microsoft itself has promoted Copilot as a tool for youthful users—especially those in Gen Z or the younger end of the millennial cohort—to organize not just their work lives but their emotional ones. The premise is straightforward: generative AI can lower the barriers for those hesitant to seek support, helping users reframe negative thoughts, plan next steps, and draft important communications.But mental health professionals widely caution against positioning general-purpose generative AIs as genuinely therapeutic tools. The American Psychological Association and other leading global bodies have repeatedly warned that while chatbots can provide comfort, resource lists, or basic coping strategies, they lack the human understanding, ethical safeguards, and clinical acumen required for true therapy. Misdiagnosis, emotional detachment, and the perpetuation of harmful misinformation remain significant dangers.
In practice, Copilot and ChatGPT are language models built to generate plausible, relevant text based on vast training data—not to diagnose, treat, or counsel with understanding about unique individual circumstances, trauma histories, or psychological nuance. Any efforts, no matter how well-intentioned, to position AI as a substitute for trained professionals risk promoting false confidence and neglect of deeper needs.
Data Privacy and Safety in AI-Supported Wellbeing
Beyond the surface-level awkwardness, the advice from Microsoft also surfaces deeper questions about privacy and user safety. When vulnerable users turn to Copilot or similar AI tools—outlining layoffs, financial anxieties, or mental health struggles—what happens to their data? How is it stored, processed, and potentially leveraged downstream?Microsoft has issued public commitments to privacy, but as with all large AI platforms, the risk of user data being used for model training, personalization, or even advertising remains a legitimate concern. Regulatory environments such as Europe’s GDPR set stringent standards, but effective enforcement and audit can lag technology's march.
For those facing a sudden, involuntary job loss, the idea that their private struggles could become fodder for further technological optimization only intensifies the sense of violation. This remains a significant challenge for Microsoft and all firms deploying AI for behavioral and emotional support: transparency, consent, and clear boundaries are non-negotiable.
The Broader Impact on Team Morale and Industry Culture
Arguably, one of the most damaging effects of the Copilot incident is the blow to employee trust and organizational culture. Layoffs are always painful, but the process and subsequent communications are crucial in shaping perceptions of dignity, respect, and ongoing loyalty among both departing and remaining staff.Former Xbox team members and wider game developers described the AI advice as alienating and impersonal. “When layoffs hit, people need honesty, context, and empathy from leaders,” wrote one anonymous developer on industry forum ResetEra. “What they got instead was a link to a robot. It’s the opposite of support—it’s abandonment dressed up as innovation.”
Current Microsoft employees voiced anxiety that such episodes further erode faith in leadership at a time when morale is already shaky. The software giant’s aggressive pivot to AI-first strategy, while technically and financially savvy, risks exacerbating a sense that human contribution is being systematically undervalued.
Practical Aid versus Philosophical Disconnect
To be fair to Turnbull and others advocating for digital self-help, the underlying idea—that AI can make a complicated time a little less daunting—is not without merit. For job hunters suddenly thrust into the market, tools that help polish CVs, identify transferable skills, and draft tailored outreach are undeniably helpful. Copilot, Microsoft 365’s Resume Assistant, and ChatGPT-powered job search plug-ins can streamline once-tedious tasks, saving time and emotional bandwidth.There is also evidence that many users, particularly among digital natives, feel less stigma talking to a machine about their feelings than they do reaching out to a human therapist or even a trusted peer. The capacity to “talk out loud,” experiment with reframing, or simulate interviews in a judgment-free space can support confidence-building and skill development.
Where the advice becomes fraught is in the leap from coping tool to wellness panacea. Offering a script for managing imposter syndrome or drafting a layoff announcement email is very different from guiding someone through the complex stages of grief, loss, and reinvention that mass layoffs trigger. The best digital interventions recognize their own limits—and clearly route users to real human resources when needed.
Lessons for Microsoft—and the Industry
The Copilot controversy serves as a microcosm of the tensions roiling global tech: transformative innovation yoked to rapid disruption, with real human costs too easily glossed over in the rush to “disrupt” and “optimize.” For Microsoft, a company priding itself on digital leadership, the stakes are high—not only for technological and financial success, but for its reputation as a responsible employer and industry leader.If there’s a lesson in the backlash, it is not that AI is without value for those navigating uncertain times, but that its application demands nuance, humility, and above all, humanity from those in positions of authority. Digital tools must be positioned as adjuncts to, not replacements for, the social bonds, ethical support, and leadership accountability people need most during times of upheaval.
Employee departures, especially on the scale witnessed at Xbox, merit responses that are honest, direct, and grounded in the lived realities of loss. Offering AI-generated advice may reflect a new tech zeitgeist, but it cannot—should not—replace the work of acknowledging harm, supporting transitions, and rebuilding trust.
Conclusion: Navigating an AI-Defined Future with Care
The episode surrounding Microsoft’s use of Copilot as a digital balm for laid-off staff is more than a minor HR faux pas. It is a signal moment in the evolving relationship between technology, labor, and wellbeing—a cautionary tale of how even well-meant innovation can become alienating or even harmful if deployed without empathy or understanding.For organizations pursuing AI integration, the lesson is clear: there is no shortcut through human vulnerability. AI can augment, facilitate, and empower—indeed, Microsoft Copilot and similar tools hold enormous promise for easing certain practical burdens of modern work. But neither Copilot nor any large language model can fully substitute for leadership, community, or real mental health care. As AI becomes ever more embedded in our professional and personal landscapes, it is critical to foreground the human at every step, ensuring tools remain just that—and not unwitting arbiters of our collective wellbeing.
As the industry moves forward, striking this balance will become not just a matter of technological progress, but a barometer for corporate integrity, employee trust, and ultimately, the social value of innovation itself.
Source: Business Today 'Feeling lost? Ask Copilot': Microsoft exec suggests AI therapy to laid off employees - BusinessToday
