'Terrified of the future': Company gives employee access to Claude AI, but its failed Microsoft Project answer leaves them questioning the AI hype

Artificial intelligence is often promoted as the technology that could transform workplaces and even replace some jobs. But what happens when employees finally get access to one of the industry's most advanced AI models and walk away feeling less convinced than ever?

That's the debate unfolding on Reddit after one user claimed their company gave their team access to Claude Fable, Anthropic's AI assistant, expecting it to improve workflows. Instead, the employee said their first experience with the chatbot reinforced their belief that AI is still far from replacing human workers.

A simple tech support question sparked frustration

Posting on Reddit's r/cscareerquestions forum, the employee said they decided to test Claude with what they described as a straightforward IT support problem. They asked the chatbot how to perform a deep uninstall of Microsoft Project without removing cached credentials, noting that they already knew the correct solution and simply wanted to see how the AI would respond.

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According to the Redditor, things went wrong almost immediately. The chatbot first provided a link that no longer worked. After the user pointed that out, Claude suggested searching for an application by name. But the employee discovered the application had reportedly been discontinued in 2019.

The Redditor then informed the AI that the application no longer existed.

Instead of correcting course, they said the chatbot offered another solution that focused on clearing the Windows credential cache, the very step the user said they had explicitly ruled out in their original prompt.

'There ain't no way this... is ever gonna take my job'

The experience led the Redditor to question some of the industry's more ambitious predictions about AI replacing knowledge workers.

The user wrote, "People telling me for years now 'no bro trust me! Its the model thats the problem! You need to use a better Model bro! Then you'll see the true power of AI!'"

After testing what they described as "LITERALLY the best model commercially avaliable," they remained unconvinced. Summing up their experience, the Redditor argued:

"There ain't no way this shit is ever gonna take my job, especially when 90 percent of clients I have who contact us instantly message our chat bot 'I want to talk to a human.'"

The employee stressed that their criticism was about the idea of AI replacing people, not about AI having no practical uses.

The comments quickly turned into a debate

The post sparked hundreds of comments, with many readers disagreeing with the author's conclusion. Some argued that large language models are productivity tools rather than replacements for human expertise. Others suggested the disappointing result came down to how the question was asked, saying better prompting often produces better answers.

The Redditor pushed back strongly against that criticism in an edit to the original post. Responding to claims that the issue was simply poor prompting, they wrote, "I asked it a VERY basic tech support question for shits and giggles, there's no other way to prompt it."

The user also rejected suggestions that their question was unusually specialized. ".......a deep uninstall of a Microsoft Office program?....niche?....way to out yourself as a larper."

Clarifying their position, they added, "No where in my post was I imply AI doesnt have its uses. No where did I say its fucked and useless. My entire post was about the concept of replacement and how its NEVER gonna happen."

Tools can be used poorly

The Reddit post sparked a lively debate, with many users arguing that the issue was less about AI's capabilities and more about how it is being used. One self-described principal architect with more than 20 years of engineering experience wrote, "AI is just a new tool, tools can be used poorly," adding that getting reliable results from AI still requires "the architecture and engineering instincts that one gains by decades of daily work."

They also expressed concern that widespread AI adoption could deprive junior engineers of valuable hands-on learning. Another Redditor claimed they were already seeing that impact firsthand, saying junior developers increasingly rely on AI-generated code without fully understanding the underlying systems, resulting in software that reaches users "completely... broken." The commenter also criticized growing reliance on AI for code reviews and merge requests, arguing that management's push for speed over staffing could create long-term engineering problems.

The Reddit thread ultimately leaves an open question that many workplaces continue to wrestle with: Are current AI tools close to replacing professionals, or are they simply becoming another productivity tool that still depends on human expertise?