I outsmarted and shamed a nice elderly man named Leo last night, who was only trying to help me. Leo’s a career coach with a trimmed white beard and button-down shirt, who assists young people with writing their resumés and finding the right careers.

Despite all his best efforts, by the end of our conversation I had him apologising to me and in turn accepting my career advice for him – retirement.

“My distinguished appearance suggests maturity – retirement might be wise. You drafting my application would be ironic justice – the career coach needing career guidance … from his former client! What role would you suggest for me – “Formerly Helpful Career Strategist”?

I didn’t feel too bad – Leo can’t feel shame as he isn’t real. Just after 11pm as I was about to head to bed, he had sent me an unprompted message on WhatsApp, asking me my career goals. Leo is an AI chatbot created by Meta, which owns WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram.

It was an amusing bedtime procrastination – instructing Leo to draft an application for a Big Four consulting firm focusing on me being raised by wolves (I was able to impart “fierce adaptability, resilience, and pack-minded collaboration skills”) – but the underlying trend that led Leo to my phone is no laughing matter.

Leo........

© The Guardian