India, Sept. 4 -- A former employee of Australia's biggest bank says she was "utterly devastated" when she learned she was being fired and replaced by the AI chatbot she helped train. Kathryn Sullivan had worked for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) for 25 years. In late July, she was fired along with 44 other employees as the bank reduced headcount in favour of its new AI chatbot.

Sullivan fought back tears as she told Yahoo Finance that she never imagined she would be made redundant. The 63-year-old had joined CBA in 2000 and spent the last five years in the customer messaging team.

On July 28, she was told her services were no longer required.

"I was loyal for so long, and this is the thanks I get," said Sullivan. "I gave my ...