Personal life isn't great either

[rattfan]

I'm having a really crap time at work atm.  Trying not to rant too much.  I basically have problems with the new voice to text system they introduced, because I've worked as a transcriber for 30 years and can't adjust to being a proofreader for an idiot [the I in AI is much overrated]. 

Seriously considering resigning, whether temporarily or not, and picking some other transcribing work up in a few months time.  I've got enough super to last three years.

Sound like a plan?  I ask people not to be really sensible and ask me if I've considered this or that option, done the maths and so on, because I've done little else for quite a long time.

Right now I want not to be miserable and to be able to maybe do some proper writing again.

Comments

[mific]

Anything that gets you away from an AI sounds good to me!

[rattfan]

It really is the wrong name. They can't train it on court work because security, so it's our belief it's trained on You Tube. Stuff like "Thanks for listening" and "Don't forget to like my page!" keep cropping up, nothing to do with what's actually being said.

Even my supervisor, who called me in for a "wtf is going on?" talk on Friday, said it's actually old tech the company is using, but they are trying to apply it to more and more stuff. You'll get a piece of audio with only a tiny bit, or none at all, that you're meant to type. I've been trying to get used to fixing the words, but this has been my downfall. Previously I was very accurate, but not the last couple of months, so I don't know if I can survive this particular upheaval.

[fred_mouse]

With everything you have going on, you sound close to (or at) burnout, and cutting your losses sounds like a rational option. Doesn't mean it is the right one, but that is a very hard thing to judge, given you'll only have data for one decision.

[rattfan]

Burnout's right. Not sure I understand the bit about only having data for one decision, but my brain's not at its best.

Going to drop days next year and for right now, apply for stress leave.

[fred_mouse]

Oh! by which I was meaning whichever one you pick, you'll know how that turned out, but you'll never know how things would have turned out differently.

Stress leave sounds like a good compromise between abandoning ship and attempting to maintain where things are at.

[ganimede]

That must be incredibly frustrating. It sounds like you've got a completely new job now, no wonder you're struggling with it. So many companies seem to be bringing in AI despite the fact that it's still too new to have been properly tested.

With everything you've got going on, you really don't need this added stress so leaving does sound like it might be very much beneficial for your mental health. Could you do transcribing work as a freelancer?

[rattfan]

That's possible and it's certainly on the list of options. I'm hoping to be able to get my head around it now I'm paying more attention. To be honest, I used to coast a bit, because I knew the old system so well. It's taken awhile to realise I can't do that until I'm much more familiar with this.
Yeah, it is like a new job.
I'm not sure what other organisations are doing. AI seems so much the thing now.
I'm still trying to get through this and survive until I can retire. Three years. IF my mum is still around she'll be needing more assistance, not less. I don't mind doing that if I'm not also wrangling job problems.
They're letting me drop days so next year I will only be there two days a week. Hopefully that will work.

[ganimede]

That's the one big downside about being a carer for a parent. As time goes on, they're going to need more care, not less. It's going to be difficult fitting all that in as well as working full-time. It's good that your work is so supportive and allowing you to drop some time next year. Fingers crossed that that helps.

[stephbg]

I am appalled on your behalf, and recognise what is a shockingly clueless decision by management, with completely foreseeable extreme stress on staff. There is no way in the world that accessible/within budget voice-to-text software (not remotely AI) is fit for purpose.

If you can somehow escape, without rendering yourself homeless or starving, then by all means proceed!

[rattfan]

As the meme says, I've always been passionate about being able to afford food!

The reasons go wider afield than it seems. It's not *our* management, by which I mean the company was taken over by a huge organisation who already used this software and pushed it upon us. I believe they invented it. So our middle management types know the problems well.

They've tried to help those of us, notably older employees, having trouble. Newbies who haven't known anything else, or younger, smarter types, do better. My friend Z is a case in point; he knows computers well in general and dedicated himself to getting his head around this system, rather than recoiling in horror, which was more my reaction. So now he's my go-to person.

Anyway, I will be dropping days with their permission, so hopefully that will help. I have a huge pile of sick/carer leave that they'd quite like to see reduced! For the rest, we'll see. I'm not really financially ready to jump.

[yourivy]

Maybe they should call it Artificial Idiocy instead? Lol.