Manager pushed workers to use AI for every problem — until one employee's genius plan landed him on the wrong side of law

It cannot be denied that AI can help cut task time in half, but it is not necessary for every single thing; something one employee proved after their manager became overly dependent on it. The employee's friend, who goes by u/BranigansLaw on Reddit, shared how they convinced their manager that not every single task requires AI. Still, the manager had drunk "the AI Kool-Aid" and insisted that even tasks that could have been done faster manually should be done with Claude, an AI agent. The manager kept pushing until one day an employee used AI in such a way that it left him shamefaced. The post was shared on May 20, 2026, and it has received 1,700 upvotes and 115 comments.

Work smart, not hard

Ever since the manager pushed the usage of AI, people started doing the bare minimum at work because they felt demoralized. Instead of reading the room, the manager asked them to get more creative with their AI usage. The friend's company dealt with HIPAA-compliant software, which meant the employees had to watch videos and fill out "boring quizzes." That was when the author's friend came up with a brilliant idea. He logged onto Claude and used Puppeteer to complete the entire training course. He did not have to raise a finger.

Embarrassed

During their biweekly scrum, the manager asked the employees what creative ways they have found to incorporate AI into their work. The friend stood up proudly and said that he managed to get Claude and Puppeteer to complete his HIPAA compliance test. Everyone thought he was clever and funny, except the manager. Finally, he had to admit that not every single task requires AI. The best part was that since the course charged per student, the manager would have to pay extra for another seat. Instead of doing this, he let the friend get away with not having to do another HIPAA compliance test for the rest of the year.

AI at work

The development of AI has brought a flurry of discussions in the workplace. A survey from INTOO found that people were unsure about the guidelines for using AI at work, which is why they often use it without any transparency. 52% of employees believed they were AI experts at work. However, 20% were not sure which features of AI were allowed at work, and 25% were uncomfortable with telling their fellow co-workers they've used AI at work. This is ironic because of how the manager encouraged everyone to openly use AI to do their work.

Readers bring on a twist with AI

Several people in the comment section joked about "getting creative" and replacing the manager with AI. u/ItBurnsLikeFireDoc wrote, "I would have AI work on all of the manager's responsibilities. Get him laid off." u/Jonsbe asked a rhetorical question, "Can you try to make 'Manager AI'?"

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