AI | 'Hey Geraldine' is charming, but should we be this comfortable cloning colleagues?

There’s something undeniably sweet about the idea behind Hey Geraldine. A woman who’s dedicated 35 years to public service, known for her knowledge and generosity with it, is honoured by her employer with an AI version of herself to help colleagues around the clock. A quirky chatbot that mimics her tone, offers her wisdom, and saves hours of staff time? Lovely, right?

But once you get past the initial feel-good factor, it’s worth pausing to ask: is this the beginning of something brilliant or something unsettling?

A tribute or a shortcut?

Let’s be clear, Geraldine herself seems happy with the whole thing. She helped train the chatbot, she wrote the responses, and it frees her up to do more meaningful work. So far, so good.

But it’s the broader principle that invites a bit more scrutiny. What happens when this model becomes normalised? Will other organisations see this as a charming one-off or as a low-cost way to extract the skills and knowledge of staff before they move on?