China is witnessing the emergence of AI, but not in the way you’d hope. Based on a report, workers in the country are now relying on AI to secure their jobs and make use of AI tools to threaten the roles of their co-workers. The tools are readily available to download on GitHub and can be used to let the companies know how easy it would be to replace their co-workers with AI, while showing how crucial they are for the company.
As for the co-workers, they are now relying on an AI tool that lets them confuse these AI agents, hiding their special skills that could be harvested to attack the jobs.
Who knew the workplace competition could elevate to such an extent!
According to multiple reports and discussions on Chinese social media platforms like RedNote (Xiaohongshu), workers are actively teaching AI systems to perform the tasks of their colleagues, preparing for the moment when management decides to let go of roles made irrelevant by AI, their own jobs are spared from the layoff list.
AI sabotage in Chinese workplaces
One viral anecdote shared on social media described employees quietly building AI agents, like ‘colleague.skill’, capable of handling specific workflows of co-workers. The goal is clear – demonstrate that certain roles can be fully automated, increasing the likelihood that those colleagues, rather than themselves, will be let go in the next round of restructuring.
However, there is a new response to “colleague.skill”. A female developer has created an “anti-distillation.skill” tool to counter colleague.skill. In a viral video on social media, the developer shows how her tool could help employees protect their expertise from being harvested by AI commissioned by their rivals.
What the ‘anti-distillation.skill’ tool does is that it can rewrite standard employee work documents to keep it clear and professional to a human, but hide the most critical details on how the work was done.
This trend has emerged as China’s tech and ‘white-collar’ sectors face significant pressure from AI-driven automation. Companies are increasingly replacing routine and even mid-level tasks with AI, leading to widespread layoffs and heightened job insecurity.
As a result, employees have now turned to the same technology, which is eating their livelihoods, to use against their peers for survival.
AI anxiety deepens in toxic workplace culture
The AI anxiety is gripping China’s workforce, leading to questionable workplace ethics. Hashtags and discussions around “AI anxiety” have garnered millions of views on Chinese platforms, with users sharing stories of exhaustion from constantly upskilling to keep up with AI tools. Social media also brings out a culture of “lying flat” – doing the bare minimum at work – to fight the introduction of AI tools in their workflow.
This comes at a time when the global space is urging AI developers and forms to undertake responsible development of AI, wherein the technology should be designed to support human workers rather than challenge their job roles. The AI Impact Summit 2026 in India saw world leaders and tech CEOs pledge to ensure a responsible development of AI in an ever-evolving space.