I Built AI Clones of My Coworkers. Things Got Weird

Sep 22, 2026 6:30 AM

Brian Bot loved talking about improv, while Sophie Bot wouldn’t stop calling me “big dog.” Welcome to the future of work.

WIRED’s Sophie Kleeman and Brian Barrett.Photo-Illustration: WIRED Staff; Getty Images

When I decided to create artificial intelligence clones of my editors, my intentions were pure: I just wanted them to think I was good at my job.

AI assistants are suddenly everywhere in the workplace. Each week, my inbox is flooded with press releases about digital workers, and CEOs brag about how robot helpers will soon dominate their workforces. Then there are the stories I hear about people who build AI clones of their bosses, using them to spit-shine every idea, message, or draft before sending it over to their actual human supervisors. The goal seems to be productivity and optimization: If employees can cheaply and quickly improve their output, their job performance—and the performance of their employers—will be better for it.

I didn’t need my bots to improve Condé Nast’s bottom line. I just needed them to make me look good. I had only been reporting on the future of work at WIRED for a few months, and I reasoned that the bots could help me mold myself into an ideal colleague. They could help me navigate a new workplace and better understand my editors: what they liked, how they communicated, what success might look like to them.

What better way to figure out what the future of work might look like than actually living it?

Last month, when I broached my idea with those editors, Brian Barrett and Sophie Kleeman, they were less than enthused.

“Genuinely my nightmare,” Brian told me over Slack. “But will do it for the blog.”

It took less than 24 hours for Brian to realize just how much he would regret that decision.

A “Yes, and” Leadership Style

But mostly I was distracted by one “key theme”—his “‘Yes, and …’ Leadership Style.”

I immediately demanded to know whether this was true. (It was.)

Enter Sophie Bot.

Bot Versus Human

That’s what she thinks.

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