Society has long feared that AI poses a threat to jobs and livelihoods; It's a fear that goes back decades. But the prophecies never came to pass and the reality of AI, at least for the last ten years, has been relatively dull.
He recent wave of job losses , however, shows that this is simply not the case anymore. The threat we've ignored as too abstract is finally here, with organizations capitalizing on the power of generative AI Tools for offer cost savings and โstreamline operations.โ
dead by a thousand cuts
BT showcased this latest goal, which roughly translates to "why hire human workers when we can automate tasks," perfectly when it announced plans to lay off tens of thousands of workers and automate a host of functions.
These brutal workforce cuts will see the telecom giant lay off up to 40% of its staff
Anywhere up to 10,000 of these established pit positions could be replaced by AI, the Telegraph
BT framed this change as a direct response to slow growth; posted a 1% year-over-year decline in revenue, while profit fell 12%. But it is naive to take this reasoning at face value.
In reality, the penny has fallen for companies. Operating in the midst of a period of tightening budgets and a potential recession, AI offers a get out of jail card for companies already salivating at the prospect of cutting staff costs, only this time they can limit operational pressure. that these cuts could create.
BT is not alone here. IBM last month revealed it would pause hiring non-customer-facing roles and eventually replace them with AI, according to CEO Arvind Krishna. He said Bloomberg he paused contract thousands of jobs to be automated in the coming years
Around 7,800 non-customer-facing roles could be replaced due to AI
We've been blind to AI warning signs
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the organization behind ChatGPT ABC News
He said that "it's going to eliminate a lot of the current jobs," but then added that "we can create a lot of better ones." With Altman worried but still pouring money into the field, it's safe to say that workers should be anxious and angry about the future. Industry leaders have also failed to clarify exactly how companies plan to do "better" jobs following AI-induced job cuts.
The expectation that a person who, for example, has worked in human resources for decades, would suddenly be presented with a host of new and exciting opportunities after losing their job is ludicrous and ignores reality. retraining
AI was once feared as a tool that would eventually replace human jobs. But these fears gave way to optimism that it might increase the roles instead. What we refer to as AI, largely machine learning
Businesses, however, will embrace mass automation in the calculated way we have come to expect over the years. Many workers will legitimately look over their shoulders and wonder what cost-saving schemes the C-Suite is hatching. With human resources, customer-facing roles, and even jobs in software development potentially at risk due to generative AI, there will be no respite for roles in the crosshairs. This trend has been a trickle for months, but it will inevitably become a torrent that will wash away thousands, if not millions, more jobs in the job market.
