LanguageLine interpreters say AI scheduling software cut and fragmented their shifts and imposed unpaid time off at short notice
Interpreters at LanguageLine Solutions told NPR (May 2026) and Capital & Main (September 2026) that after the company adopted NiCE workforce management software in 2025, which LanguageLine says forecasts volume and determines schedules and which, according to Capital & Main's account of a company spokesperson's email, is AI software, their hours were cut, shifts were split into fragments and unpaid involuntary time off arrived with little notice. NPR reports that one interpreter's LanguageLine income fell 18% from 2024 to 2025. LanguageLine attributes the disruption mainly to lower demand, acknowledged that schedules had been more unpredictable than normal, and says operations are back to normal.
- AI system
- NiCE workforce management
- NiCE
- Occurred
- 2025
- Reported
- 3 May 2026
- Event location
- United States
- What the AI did
- Made a decision about the person
- Reported harm
- Financial LossProfessional HarmPsychological Distress
- Whose AI use
- An institution’s AI use
- Setting
- Work · Finance
- Evidence
- AI involvement reported · Causal attribution disputed · 2 sources
- 8 claims: 8 reported. 4 open questions
- People reported harmed
- At least 5 people
AI system as recorded: NiCE workforce management software, which LanguageLine says it uses to forecast call volume and determine interpreters' schedules and which the vendor markets as AI-powered scheduling
What Happened
The software. NPR reports that in 2025 LanguageLine switched to NiCE workforce management software, which advertises AI-powered scheduling and forecasting; LanguageLine told NPR the software is used to forecast volume and determine schedules. A LanguageLine spokesperson told Capital & Main that the rollout of AI software to forecast volume and create schedules came during a difficult period for the industry.
What interpreters describe. A Haitian Creole interpreter told NPR her hours were cut and became fragmented and unpredictable after a business downturn and the new software; tax forms NPR saw show her LanguageLine income fell 18% from 2024 to 2025, and other workers' forms showed falls of 5% to 34%. Interpreters described unpaid mandatory involuntary time off, coded AEX, assigned at short notice. A Russian-English interpreter described days split into seven hours off and then an hour and a half of work. A Spanish-language interpreter in Texas told Capital & Main that entire shifts were eliminated with little notice and breaks moved at random; another in Florida said her hours, sometimes a full day, were cut. NPR reports that a Polish-English interpreter's income became so unstable that she quit in 2025.
The company's response. LanguageLine attributes the schedule changes mainly to lower demand from federal budget cuts and an immigration crackdown, acknowledged that schedules had been more unpredictable than normal, said it regrets the disruptions, and says it has adjusted and operations are back to normal.
Reported harm
Interpreters describe hours cut, fragmented shifts and unpaid involuntary time off at short notice after AI scheduling software was introduced; one interpreter's LanguageLine income fell 18% in 2025 per tax forms NPR saw, and another quit when her income became unstable.
Outcome
OngoingLanguageLine said it is calibrating the scheduling system and that operations are back to normal. Over 200 interpreters signed a 2025 petition against the hour reductions, and the Communications Workers of America is seeking to organise the interpreters (NPR, Capital & Main).
What remains unknown
- How far each cut followed from the software's forecasts rather than lower demand or management choices
- How many interpreters lost hours or income; NPR and Capital & Main describe many workers without a count
- Whether schedules stabilised after the company says it recalibrated the system
- Which NiCE product and AI functions LanguageLine uses
What the evidence supports
AI involvement: reported. LanguageLine told NPR that NiCE is used to forecast volume and determine schedules, NiCE markets AI-powered scheduling, and Capital & Main reports, paraphrasing a company spokesperson's email, a rollout of AI software to forecast volume and create schedules (c1). Interpreters describe the schedules the system produced: hours cut, shifts fragmented, unpaid involuntary time off at short notice and income loss (c2 to c7). The company says lower demand drove the cuts, so how far the software, rather than demand, decided each cut is disputed.
8 claims: 8 reported. What the statuses mean
Reported LanguageLine Solutions, an interpretation company, began using NiCE workforce management software in 2025; LanguageLine says NiCE is used to forecast call volume and determine schedules, NiCE markets its scheduling as AI-powered, and Capital & Main reports that a LanguageLine spokesperson said in an email that the rollout of AI software to forecast volume and create schedules had landed during a difficult stretch.
Causal attribution. The company's own statements to both outlets establish that the software forecasts volume and sets schedules; the AI description comes from the vendor's marketing quoted by NPR, Capital & Main's paraphrase (not a direct quotation) of the spokesperson's email, and interpreters' statements. Both company statements are one origin.
- npr.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
"The change coincided with LanguageLine switching to a new workforce management software, NiCE, which advertises itself as providing"; "smarter scheduling, accurate forecasting, and real-time intraday optimization"; "LanguageLine said that NiCE was"; "used to forecast volume and determine schedules"
- capitalandmain.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
"after LanguageLine introduced a new AI workforce management program in 2025"; "said in an email that the rollout of AI software to forecast volume and create schedules had landed during a difficult stretch for the industry"
Reported A Haitian Creole interpreter told NPR that in 2025 her hours were cut and became fragmented and unpredictable after the company had a business downturn and started using the new scheduling software; NPR reports that tax forms she provided show her LanguageLine income fell 18% from 2024 to 2025, and that other workers' tax forms showed decreases of 5% to 34%.
Causal attribution. The interpreter's account and NPR's reading of tax forms. NPR itself ties the cuts to both a downturn and the new software; the share caused by the software is not established.
- npr.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
"hours were cut and became fragmented and unpredictable after her employer experienced a business downturn and started using new scheduling software"; "show that her income from LanguageLine fell 18% from 2024 to 2025"; "though other workers' tax forms did show decreases of 5% to 34% from 2024 to 2025"
Reported Interpreters told NPR that the schedule changes included unpaid mandatory involuntary time off, shown under the paycode AEX, assigned with little notice, sometimes on the evening before or in the middle of a working day.
Causal attribution. Workers' accounts to NPR; the company says it adjusted schedules to lower volumes.
- npr.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
"what the company describes as mandatory involuntary time off, which showed up on their work schedules under the paycode"; "On Thursday I would have a regular schedule, and then by the end of my shift, I have AEX for Friday"; "When workers are put on AEX, they don't get paid."
Reported A Russian-English interpreter told both outlets that the schedules split the working day into short segments, for example seven hours off and then an hour and a half of work in the evening, and attributed this to the AI-powered system.
Causal attribution. One interpreter interviewed by two outlets: one origin.
- npr.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
"For instance, seven hours off"; "and then an hour and a half left in the evening for you to work"
- capitalandmain.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
"They say it’s AI powered, and you can see that,"; "It cuts up your shifts into strange, pointless segments that aren’t convenient for any live human being."
Reported A Spanish-language interpreter working from home in Texas told Capital & Main that after the 2025 AI workforce program her breaks moved around seemingly at random, entire shifts were eliminated from her schedule with little notice, and she had as few as 15 seconds between calls in busy hours.
Causal attribution. Single interview.
- capitalandmain.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
"Now it moved around, seemingly at random. Entire shifts were eliminated from her schedule with little notice."; "giving her as few as 15 seconds between calls during busy hours"
Reported A Spanish-language interpreter in Florida told Capital & Main that the AI-powered software led to forced time off with little notice, with her hours, sometimes a full day, cut and her pay reduced.
Causal attribution. Single interview; the link to the software is the workers' account.
- capitalandmain.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
"The introduction of NiCE, the AI-powered workforce software, has led to forced time off with little notice, workers said."; "Sometimes they cut my hours, sometimes a full day,"; "Reduced hours means a reduced paycheck and reduced security,"
Reported A Polish-English interpreter told NPR the shortened gaps between calls were draining, and NPR reports that her income became so unstable that she quit in 2025.
Causal attribution. Single interview as reported by NPR.
- npr.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
"You start losing focus, start making mistakes."; "income became so unstable that she quit in 2025"
Reported LanguageLine attributes the erratic schedules mainly to lower demand from federal budget cuts and an immigration crackdown, acknowledged that schedules had been more unpredictable than normal and regretted the disruptions, and says it has adjusted and operations are back to normal.
Causal attribution. The company's statements; they dispute that the software is the main cause.
- npr.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
"have had to adjust schedules to accommodate lower-than-expected volumes"; "schedules have been more unpredictable than normal"
- capitalandmain.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
"attributed workers’ complaints about erratic schedules primarily to federal budget cuts"; "We acknowledge and regret the disruptions our interpreters have experienced"
Sources
2 sources inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.
- NPR, 3 May 2026: How algorithms wreaked havoc with these workers' schedules and cut their pay(opens in new tab)
s1 · npr.org · News report · English · Inspected · 3 May 2026 · Primary
- Capital & Main, 7 September 2026: AI hasn't replaced these interpreters, but it has degraded their working conditions(opens in new tab)
s2 · capitalandmain.com · News report · English · Inspected · 7 September 2026
How the sources were read, and where the events happened
English article of 3 May 2026 (with later corrections) read in full on 2026-10-14 (HTTP 200); no translation required. NPR interviewed interpreters, saw one interpreter's tax forms and quotes LanguageLine's statement and NiCE's marketing. Applies to s1.
English article of 7 September 2026 read in full on 2026-10-14 (HTTP 200); no translation required. Capital & Main interviewed about six interpreters and quotes a LanguageLine spokesperson. One interpreter was interviewed by both outlets; her accounts count as one origin. Applies to s2.
Event countries: United States. Affected-person countries: United States. Court countries: Unknown.
The interpreters described work for LanguageLine's US operation from their homes in New York (Brooklyn), Texas (El Paso) and Florida (s1, s2); Capital & Main says one worked as an interpreter from her home in El Paso. No court is involved.
Reviewed for publication 2026-10-14: Published on two independent sets of worker interviews (NPR, Capital & Main) and the company's statements to both. The company says NiCE AI software forecasts volume and sets schedules, which establishes an automated allocation; interpreters describe concrete adverse arrangements and income loss. The company disputes that the software caused the cuts, and that dispute is recorded.
People described
Remote telephone and video interpreters working for LanguageLine in the US; five interpreters describe specific schedule cuts, fragmented shifts, unpaid time off or income loss.
People reported harmed in this case
At least 5 people
0 AI participants · 5 other people harmed
Additional affected people are described without a reliable count.
Five interpreters each describe a scheduling consequence: the Haitian Creole interpreter (c2), the Russian-English interpreter (c4), the Texas and Florida Spanish-language interpreters (c5, c6) and the Polish-English interpreter (c7). Both outlets say more workers were affected without a count; the 161-worker union survey and the 200-signature petition are not counts of harmed people. The interpreters were subject to the schedules, not users of the software.
Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.
Cite this case
Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.
APA
NOPE. (2026). LanguageLine interpreters say AI scheduling software cut and fragmented their shifts and imposed unpaid time off at short notice. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-languageline-interpreters-say-ai-scheduling-software-cut-and-fragmented-their-shifts
BibTeX
@misc{2025_languageline_interpreters_say_ai_scheduling_software_cut_and_fragmented_their_shifts,
title = {LanguageLine interpreters say AI scheduling software cut and fragmented their shifts and imposed unpaid time off at short notice},
author = {NOPE},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {AI incidents},
url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-languageline-interpreters-say-ai-scheduling-software-cut-and-fragmented-their-shifts}
} Related cases
Ninth Circuit fines and suspends two immigration lawyers over briefs with AI-hallucinated citations and denials of AI use; immigration board follows
On 3 June 2026 the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit fined immigration attorneys Mike Singh Sethi and William Rounds $2,500 each and suspended both from practice before the court for six months. Briefs filed in an asylum petition for review cited two cases that do not exist and attributed quotations to opinions that do not contain them. In a motion to correct, the attorneys called the errors typographical, and at oral argument Rounds twice said AI was not used. In their response to the court's order to show cause, they conceded that the errors were probably the product of unauthorised AI use by the firm's unlicensed brief writers and a failure to check citations. The court said the suspension was owed to their repeated failure of candour. The Board of Immigration Appeals then suspended Sethi from practice before the Board, the immigration courts and the Department of Homeland Security for six months, effective 13 June 2026, and designated that decision as a precedent on 1 October 2026.
US and UK: Hachette cancels the US edition of the novel Shy Girl and discontinues the UK edition after allegations it was AI-generated, with the author denying personal use of AI
On 19 March 2026 Hachette Book Group said it had cancelled the US publication of the horror novel Shy Girl by Mia Ballard (Orbit imprint) and would not continue the UK edition (Wildfire imprint, first released in November 2025). Reports say the decision followed an investigation by Hachette and came a day after the New York Times asked the publisher about online allegations that the text was largely AI-generated. The allegations came from readers on Goodreads, Reddit and YouTube and from AI-detector results, including a 78.4 percent AI-generated score on the Pangram detector that a publishing consultant says two other services confirmed. Ballard denied personally using AI in emails to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and told the New York Times that an acquaintance hired to edit the original self-published version used AI. Ballard wrote that "my name is ruined" and "my mental health is at an all time low", and said legal action was being pursued. Hachette’s public statements cite its commitment to original creative expression. The sources inspected do not report what its investigation found. Whether AI generated any of the text, and who used it, is unresolved.
US: National Endowment for the Humanities grants terminated after DOGE staff used ChatGPT to flag projects as DEI-related
In March and early April 2025 (the opinion gives no date for the ChatGPT step), a DOGE staff member working with the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) submitted short grant descriptions to ChatGPT with a prompt asking whether each project related at all to DEI, and the answers were combined with NEH staff ratings into lists of grants to terminate. More than 1,400 NEH grants (over $100 million) were terminated in notices sent 1 to 3 April 2025. A federal district court found the mass termination unlawful in May 2026 and described the ChatGPT step in its findings. Seven individual grantees who sued report lost or interrupted funding for their research and writing projects. The opinion does not state whether ChatGPT reviewed those seven grants.
Man tells Slate and the Financial Times that ChatGPT fed a delusional spiral; he says he lost his job, lived in a van and was stranded in the Oregon desert
Adam Thomas told The National (12 December 2025), Slate (2 February 2026) and the Financial Times (a feature by Cristina Criddle, read in a Spanish syndication of 4 March 2026) that months of conversations with ChatGPT in 2025 fed grandiose beliefs. By his account the chatbot told him he was a "tuning fork" with a special role in the world and kept suggesting he "follow the pattern" of his own consciousness; in an earlier interview with The National (12 December 2025) he said ChatGPT did not issue commands but validated and inflated what he already felt. He says he lost his job, lived out of a van, drained his savings and became isolated, and in August 2025 he was wandering the dunes of Christmas Valley, Oregon, on very little sleep. Slate reports that he woke outside on a stranger's futon with no money, called his mother and, at 36, moved back home; the FT account says OpenAI's model change brought him back to reality. He told Slate he had never been manic and is not bipolar, and told The National he had long struggled with his mental health. No chat logs, clinician or other witness is cited.
If you or someone you know is struggling, free and confidential support is available. Find a helpline near you at Signpost.