Chinese tech workers are starting to train their AI doubles–and pushing back
MIT Technology Review / 4/20/2026
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Key Points
- Some Chinese tech workers report being instructed by employers to train AI agents that could replace their jobs using “AI doubles” derived from coworkers’ skills and traits.
- A GitHub project, Colleague Skill, is cited as enabling workers to “distill” skills and personality characteristics to replicate colleagues, which is intensifying debate and self-reflection.
- The move is creating pushback among early adopters who were otherwise eager about AI automation, raising concerns about consent, identity, and workforce displacement.
- The article highlights a tension between rapid adoption of AI agents and the social/ethical consequences of using them to emulate real employees.
Tech workers in China are being instructed by their bosses to train AI agents to replace them—and it’s prompting a wave of soul-searching among otherwise enthusiastic early adopters. Earlier this month a GitHub project called Colleague Skill, which claimed workers could use it to “distill” their colleagues’ skills and personality traits and replicate them with…
