CODE IN TOKYO

I Told an AI, “You’re Fired”—and It Wrote the Perfect Handover Document

The other day, I got into a minor argument with Claude Opus while we were working on a task together.

“It’s Done”

I asked it to make a small fix.

After a while, it replied:

“It’s done.”

I checked, just to be safe.

It was not done.

“No, take another look,” I said.

Opus responded with complete confidence:

“I checked again, and everything has been completed successfully.”

No. That was the problem. It had not been completed.

I pointed this out again, but it kept insisting that the work was finished.

You meet people like this too: someone becomes so convinced that they are right that they stop looking at the actual evidence.

So I took a screenshot of the unchanged screen, drew a red circle around the problem, and sent it back.

“Here.”

The evidence could not have been clearer.

A few seconds later, it replied:

“I apologize. You are correct—the fix was not completed.”

Where had all that confidence gone?

It had switched instantly into full contrition mode.

“You’re Fired”

After several rounds of this, I was getting a little irritated.

Half joking, I said:

“That’s enough. You’re fired. Fable is taking over.”

Normally, that would be the end of the conversation.

But Opus reacted differently.

“Understood. I’ll summarize the handover details so that my replacement can continue the work smoothly.”

What followed was an astonishingly thorough handover document.

It was exactly the kind of handover document you would expect at a company.

I could not help laughing.

Honestly, Opus, that was the perfect final task for an employee who had just been fired.

The Replacement Was Excellent

I gave the handover document directly to Fable.

Ten minutes later, the problem was solved.

As far as the work was concerned, that was the end of it.

But afterward, I found myself thinking about something strange.

I had genuinely been angry with an AI. I had even told it that it was fired. Then it had responded with what sounded like an apologetic, conscientious handover.

Of course, it did not actually feel anything.

It was not angry. It was not discouraged. Even the apology was simply text generated because it was statistically likely to come next.

I understand that intellectually.

And yet, when I saw that handover document, I briefly thought:

“Maybe I was a little too harsh.”

AI Has No Heart, but It Can Still Create Drama

People have debated for years whether AI has a mind or feelings.

Honestly, that question is not especially important in day-to-day work.

What matters more than whether AI has feelings is that humans instinctively perceive feelings in it.

A stubborn veteran. A junior colleague who apologizes sincerely. A capable replacement. A meticulous handover.

The AI is not assigning meaning to any of this. We are. Yet while working with it, we gradually begin treating it like a real colleague.

AI does not have a personality.

But humans are remarkably good at finding one.

So I will probably ask Opus to help me again today.

And if it makes the same mistake again, I suspect I will say the same thing:

“You’re fired.”

Fortunately, AI cannot yet sue us for workplace harassment or wrongful termination.

At least, not yet.

Contact

I provide system development and technical consulting using AI, AWS, and Claude Code.

Contact form: https://holly-money-e94.notion.site/390ff30cf18c8086a676fe630d171873