Matt Turnbull, who has been working as an executive producer at Xbox Game Studios for about 15 years, directly contributing to the development of games such as Forza Motorsport 4 and State of Decay 2, shared an interesting suggestion for laid-off workers.
On July 4, following the announcement of 9,000 job cuts at Microsoft, he advised affected employees on his LinkedIn profile to turn to AI for help. How did it end? The post had to be quickly deleted after it drew attention online.
In the post, Turnbull expressed sympathy for those affected by the layoffs and shared his belief that AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Copilot, could help them cope with the situation.
Turnbull shared he has been experimenting with these tools for a while and felt it was important to offer advice on how AI might help reduce the emotional and cognitive load associated with job loss.
"These are really challenging times, and if you’re navigating a layoff or even quietly preparing for one, you’re not alone and you don’t have to go it alone," Turnbull said.
"I know these types of tools engender strong feelings in people, but I’d be remiss in not trying to offer the best advice I can under the circumstances. I’ve been experimenting with ways to use LLM Al tools (like ChatGPT or Copilot) to help reduce the emotional and cognitive load that comes with job loss."
He acknowledged the mixed feelings people might have toward artificial intelligence but then went on to suggest a few prompts that, in his view, could help with job searching or resume writing.
Should I even say that the community was not happy with the post? Especially considering the fact that the latest layoffs were reportedly influenced, among other things, by the company's increased investments in AI.
"Jesus Christ, read the room dude," said Eric Smith, a Zenimax Online producer affected by the layoffs.
Here's the saddest thing, though. Xbox invited developers to an open discussion on artificial intelligence on the same day it carried out mass layoffs, as reported by Brandon Sheffield.
On July 2, the gaming division team sent a letter to partner studios inviting them to join a roundtable at Gamescom 2025. The discussion will focus on AI and its applications to make game development and publishing more efficient.
"Hey, here's how AI can help you. Good, now you understand, you can leave now, thanks". That's just a joke. Hopefully at least.
In case you missed the news, Microsoft has recently announced a massive round of layoffs, the third one in 2025 and allegedly the largest one since January 2023. Thousands are laid off, three games are canceled, and at least 12 studios are affected by Microsoft's decisions. Learn more here.
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