A frustrated manager recently went viral as he was seen shouting at an employee, asking, “I paid you Rs 2 lakh (S$2,723) for this?” after he caught him using ChatGPT for writing content.
The viral video, shared by the Facebook page Little Letters Linked, had netizens online flocking to defend the employee. Although the majority speculated the video itself was AI-generated, it opened up a conversation about using artificial intelligence (AI) in the office.
One commenter came to the employee’s defense saying, “Even managers use ChatGPT to draft emails.” Another pointed out that while the manager is right about not using AI, he should not be shouting at the employee. A third added, “First of all, the] manager doesn’t pay [the] employee from his pocket.”
However, others came to the manager’s defence, saying his frustration is justified as he is “accountable for staff that comes under his management.”
Another commenter, however, chimed in, saying, “Rs2 lakh is what a toilet cleaner gets in the USA.”
In Singapore, a 2024 study by Slack found that while 52% of workers use AI in the office, 45% feel uneasy admitting it to their managers, worried they might be labelled incompetent, lazy, or cheating.
Now, many companies are praising AI for efficiency and pushing employees to use it to be more productive. Yet some remain hesitant — especially when it comes to producing content, as it’s not always helpful with “efficiency” as companies claim.
A 2025 survey by Notion, in partnership with YouGov, found that 72% of white-collar workers in Singapore said AI-generated content often required extra work, as it needed significant editing or fact-checking. /TISG
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