my coworker mansplains via ChatGPT

A reader writes:

I have a coworker who grates on me for his reliance on ChatGPT.

We are in tech, so some amount of AI use is normal these days, no matter what my misgivings are. The problem is that regularly I will ask a question of our team, looking for context or additional information on a problem so that I can craft the right solution, and this coworker will just shove my question in ChatGPT and paste the answer to me in Slack in the thread where I asked my question.

These AI answers are often band-aid fixes that miss the entire point of me asking for context or detail on a problem to understand the root cause. Like if I had asked, “I have noticed a hole in the llama containment fence, the damage suggests vandals, has that historically been an issue, and should we look into deterring them or put up cameras?” the ChatGPT guy will reply with, “ChatGPT says we can patch the hole with a fence repair kit.”

This feels a bit belittling and sort of like mansplaining to me (I am female-presenting and also younger than him, but I have more expertise in this area). I also have a work ChatGPT account and could ask it for help, but that’s not what I am looking for when I post the question to the team.

How do I explain that this is (a) not helpful and (b) kind of feels like him saying, “Let me google that for you”? I have tried gently redirecting with, “Thanks but that doesn’t provide the context I was looking for, I need XYZ before we can say if that’s the best solution” but that hasn’t helped.

If it helps you resist putting him behind a llama containment fence, remind yourself that he’s making himself look ridiculous every time he does this. If he were giving similar responses in meetings, he’d look like he lacked a basic understanding of the work and didn’t have an appropriate understanding of the types of problems that come up in your work — and it’s the same thing here. He’s making himself look bad, and I would bet money that you’re not the only one who’s noticed it and is annoyed.

Some options for responding when he does it:

You: I have noticed a hole in the llama containment fence, the damage suggests vandals, has that historically been an issue and should we look into deterring them or put up cameras?
Him: ChatGPT says we can patch the hole with a fence repair kit.
You: I was wondering whether historically we’ve had an issue with vandals.

Or:
You: I know, that’s not what I’m asking about. I’m asking whether historically we’ve had an issue with vandals.

Or:
You: Please don’t run this stuff by ChatGPT, that’s not what I’m looking for — I’m need info about our specific context.

Or:
You: ChatGPT answers won’t help here, but do you have any insight into whether our specific spot has historically had an issue with vandals and, if so, whether we should be thinking about deterring them with cameras or another strategy?

In fact, I’d bet that if you use that last approach a few times, he’ll stop doing it completely because it’s putting him on the spot to provide something useful in a way he hasn’t so far — and you’d be doing it in a way where you appear to be engaging with him in reasonably good faith. He wants to discuss this? Great! Here’s what you actually need.

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