Would you replace your manager with a chatbot? More Americans are saying yes.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday found that 15% of Americans say they would like to work in a job where their direct manager is an AI program that assigns tasks and sets schedules. Quinnipiac surveyed 1,397 U.S. adults from March 19 to 23, 2026, including questions about AI adoption, trust, and job anxiety.
Of course, the majority of respondents said they would not replace their human bosses with AI HR managers. But even if you’re not directly responsible for leading an entire team, using AI as a supervisor is gaining popularity.
Companies like Workday have launched AI agents that can submit and approve expense reports on behalf of employees. Amazon introduced new AI workflows to replace some of the responsibilities of middle management, laying off thousands of managers in the process. Uber engineers also built an AI model of CEO Dara Khosrowshahi to pitch her before her actual meeting with her boss.
Across organizations, AI is being used to replace management layers in what some are calling the “Great Flattening.” Soon, a single company could be a billion-dollar company with fully automated employees and executives.
Americans are wary of how it will affect their job prospects. In the Quinnipiac survey, a majority of respondents (70%) said they believe advances in AI will lead to fewer job opportunities for people. Among employed Americans, 30% were either very concerned or somewhat concerned that AI would make their jobs particularly obsolete.
