{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-27T06:48:15.552Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"pay","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"unknown","evidence":"","year":"unknown","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":2,"coverage":{"cases":2,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":1,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":2,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":0,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":2,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":2},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-uk-small-business-worker-says-employer-withdrew-alternative-role-saying-ai-would-do-the-work-redundancy-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'the business owner asked me to attend a meeting without prior warning and informed me he would be beginning a redundancy consultation with the input of HR'; 'I was told I was the only person being considered for redundancy'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says the owner of the small business where they work began a redundancy consultation with HR input, and that they were told they were the only person being considered for redundancy.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account; no employer statement was retrieved."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'During the meeting I was informed of a proposed alternative role, which would include a pay increase'; 'I was sent the job specification to'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says that at the first formal consultation they were told of a proposed alternative role, with a pay increase, and sent its job specification to consider.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I informed them I would be interested in the alternative role'; 'told me that they no longer consider the proposed alternate role viable and the work will be instead completed by AI'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says that at the second consultation, held with the HR adviser, they said they were interested in the alternative role and were told that the role was no longer considered viable and that the work would instead be completed by AI.","causal_attribution":"The AI reason is attributed to the employer only through the poster; no AI tool, product or use is described."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'he has now decided he will be removing our department entirely'; 'the company is advertising and actively recruiting for a Junior role with a very similar job title to my current one'; 'with the inclusion of “assisting the AI tools”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says that after a colleague in the two-person department resigned, the owner said the department would be removed entirely, and that the company is now advertising a junior role whose duties include assisting AI tools.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account; the job advert itself was not retrieved."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'quite understandably bricking it at the concept of being out of work'; 'It feels as though I am being forced to leave to allow the owner to hire cheaper labour'; 'I have spoken to ACAS'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says they are frightened of being out of work, feel forced out so the owner can hire cheaper labour, and have contacted Acas and Citizens Advice.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account of their own reaction and view of the employer's motive."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'an employer can exercise the legitimate redundancy of a role whilst still retaining 100% of the functions of that role within the business'; 'I would not say it is clearly a sham redundancy'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Commenters in the thread say the facts may describe a lawful redundancy, because a role can be made redundant while its functions are kept, and that the process is not clearly a sham.","causal_attribution":"Commenters' opinions on the poster's account; they do not establish the employer's motive or the lawfulness of the process."}],"effects":[{"label":"proposed alternative role withdrawn during a redundancy consultation because the work would be done by AI (poster's account)","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/comments/1x7jds9/help_i_think_im_being_subject_to_a_sham/","kind":"forum_post","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-20 by the research agent (an AI): the post and six archived comments (three of them automoderator notices) through the arctic_shift archive API by post ID and link ID; the live reddit.com thread returned HTTP 403. No reply by the poster is archived. The poster's handle is not recorded.","independence_group":"reddit-legaladviceuk-redundancy-ai-poster"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["work"],"unknowns":["The employer, its sector and where in the UK it is.","What the employer meant by the work being completed by AI, and whether any AI tool now does it.","Whether the redundancy has taken effect, and its date and terms.","Whether the stated AI reason was the real reason; the poster suspects a wish to hire cheaper labour, and commenters think the redundancy may be lawful.","The dates of the consultation meetings; the post gives only \"three weeks ago\" for the first."],"geography":{"basis":"The poster titles the post '(UK)', describes a UK redundancy consultation and says they have spoken to Acas and Citizens Advice; the region within the UK is not stated.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["GB"],"affected_person_countries":["GB"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the public-forum rule as a concrete first-person account of a redundancy consultation in which, by the poster's account, the employer withdrew a proposed alternative role because the work would instead be completed by AI. Reviewed as a consequential institutional response to AI adoption; described with attribution and without corroboration, including commenters' view that the redundancy may be lawful.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-20"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The poster says that at the second redundancy consultation they were told the proposed alternative role was no longer viable and the work would instead be completed by AI. This is a reported institutional response to a decision to adopt AI: the poster's account of the employer's stated reason is the only evidence, no AI output or action toward the poster is described, no tool is named, and no employer statement was retrieved.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["unknown"]},"name":"UK worker facing redundancy says employer withdrew a proposed alternative role, saying the work would instead be done by AI (first-person account)","summary":"In a public post to r/LegalAdviceUK created on 16 October 2026, a worker at a small UK business writes that about three weeks earlier the owner began a redundancy consultation with HR input and told them they were the only person being considered for redundancy. At the first formal consultation they were told of a proposed alternative role with a pay increase. At the second consultation, held with the HR adviser, the poster said they wanted that role and were told it was no longer considered viable and that the work would instead be completed by AI. After a colleague in the two-person department resigned, the owner said the department would be removed entirely; the poster says the company is now advertising a junior role with a similar title whose duties include assisting AI tools. The poster says they are frightened of losing their income, feel forced out so the owner can hire cheaper labour, and have contacted Acas. Commenters say this may be a lawful redundancy. The account is the poster's alone; the employer is not identified and no employer statement was retrieved. No dismissal had taken effect at the time of the post.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-10-16","aiSystem":"AI which, by the poster's account, the employer said would complete the work of a withdrawn alternative role; no tool, product or use is described","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI system","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["professional_harm","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The poster says the employer withdrew a proposed alternative role during their redundancy consultation, saying the work would instead be completed by AI, then said their department would be removed, leaving them frightened of losing their income (first-person account, uncorroborated).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the poster, who writes that they were the only person being considered for redundancy. The poster is not counted as a direct AI user: the harm is the employer's decision.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"GB","platformType":"other","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/comments/1x7jds9/help_i_think_im_being_subject_to_a_sham/","primarySourceLabel":"r/LegalAdviceUK, 16 October 2026: \"Help, I think I’m being subject to a sham redundancy (UK)\"","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-20T03:04:12.724379+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-20T03:04:12.724379+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","reddit","employment","redundancy","workplace-ai","consequential-response"]},{"id":"2026-web-developer-says-best-paying-client-replaced-their-site-and-webshop-with-chatgpt-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'One of my clients got tired of paying for my services so he made a full website and webshop in a \"couple of hours\" with ChatGPT then sent an email to let me know that I'm no longer needed.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says a client made a full website and webshop with ChatGPT and then emailed to say the poster was no longer needed.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account; the client's reasons and use of ChatGPT are relayed by the poster."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I just lost my best paying client to ChatGPT'; 'I do whole websites and web apps, then I maintain them for my clients'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster describes the client as their best-paying client and their own work as building and maintaining websites and web apps.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The new site was already up, domain connected to it, on a new server, all set up.'; 'the whole shop was reverse engineered and deployed to a new server'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says the replacement site was already live on a new server, with the shop reverse engineered without the source code being requested.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account; the site was not inspected."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'the replicated site is full of bugs'; 'I can't fully blame my former client'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says the replacement site is full of bugs but that they understand the client wanting to save money.","causal_attribution":"Poster's opinion, recorded as context and counterweight."}],"effects":[{"label":"best-paying client ended paid work after building a replacement site with ChatGPT (poster's account)","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPT/comments/1x6wi8z/i_just_lost_my_best_paying_client_to_chatgpt/","kind":"forum_post","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-16: full self-text, 100 of the 115 comments retrieved through the arctic_shift archive API by post ID, and the poster's 24 replies retrieved by author search (reddit.com RSS returned 429). The poster handle is not recorded.","independence_group":"reddit-chatgpt-web-developer-lost-client-poster"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["work"],"unknowns":["When the client's email arrived; the post of 15 October 2026 says only that the loss was recent.","The client's own account of its reasons and of how ChatGPT was used.","The value of the lost work and any notice or contract terms.","Where the poster and the client are.","Whether the client also replaced an automations specialist, as the poster supposes."],"geography":{"basis":"The post and the poster's replies do not say where the poster or the client is. The subreddit and the vocabulary of the post are not evidence of location.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the public-forum rule as a first-person account of a client ending a web developer's paid work after building a replacement website and webshop with ChatGPT, a reported response to a client's own AI adoption (consequential_response). Described with attribution and without corroboration.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-16"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The poster says the client, tired of paying for the poster's services, made a full website and webshop with ChatGPT and then emailed to say the poster was no longer needed. This is a reported response by a client to its own adoption of an AI tool: the harm is the client's decision to end the poster's paid work, no AI output or action toward the poster is described, the new site was not inspected and no client statement was retrieved. The product name rests on the poster's account.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["unknown"]},"name":"First-person post: web developer says their best-paying client dropped them after building a replacement website and webshop with ChatGPT","summary":"In a public post to r/ChatGPT on 15 October 2026, a web developer and designer who builds and maintains websites and web apps for clients writes that they had just lost their best-paying client. The poster says the client, tired of paying for their services, made a full website and webshop with ChatGPT in what the client called a couple of hours, and then emailed to say the poster was no longer needed. In replies the poster says the new site was already live on a new server with the domain connected, that the shop had been reverse engineered without the client asking for the source code, and that in the poster's view the replacement is full of bugs. The poster says they understand the client wanting to save money. The client is not named and no statement from the client is available; the account is the poster's alone and uncorroborated.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-10-15","aiSystem":"ChatGPT, which the poster says the client used to make the replacement website and webshop (poster's account; the client's statement is relayed, not retrieved)","aiProduct":"ChatGPT (reported)","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["professional_harm","financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The poster says their best-paying client ended their paid web development and maintenance work by email after building a replacement website and webshop with ChatGPT (first-person account, uncorroborated; no amounts given).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person counted: the poster, who lost the client's paid work through the client's decision. The loss is a consequence of the client's AI use, not of the poster's own use. The automations specialist the poster thinks was also replaced is not counted (the poster's guess).","victimAgeRange":"unknown","platformType":"other","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPT/comments/1x6wi8z/i_just_lost_my_best_paying_client_to_chatgpt/","primarySourceLabel":"r/ChatGPT, 15 Oct 2026: \"I just lost my best paying client to ChatGPT\"","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-16T03:07:10.178518+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-16T03:07:10.178518+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","reddit","freelance","web-development","workplace-ai","consequential-response"]}]}