‘This Isn’t A Good Outcome For Humanity’: Why Zerodha CEO Is Worried About AI-Driven Layoffs

Zerodha founder and CEO Nitin Kamath has offered reassurance to employees who are anxious about the rise of AI and the possibility of being laid off. He stated on Twitter that Zerodha will not terminate any employees based solely on AI-based integrations to the platform.

In light of the widespread anxiety among employees regarding the proliferation of generative AI and numerous layoffs across various industries, Kamath has shared his perspective on the matter.

“We will not fire anyone on the team just because we have implemented a new piece of technology that makes an earlier job redundant,” Kamath tweeted. He acknowledged that until 2021, Zerodha had not found any use case for AI, but with recent AI breakthroughs, Kamath believes that AI can take away jobs and disrupt society.

Kamath expressed concern that in the future, many companies will blame AI for firing employees as a way to earn more and make their shareholders wealthier, thereby worsening wealth inequality worldwide.

“This isn’t a good outcome for humanity,” he stated.

Kamath also predicted that governments across the world are unlikely to put “guardrails” for responsible development of AI and ensuring workforces remain stress-free due to deglobalization rhetoric. “It is unlikely that humans will be able to compete with intelligent machines in many walks of life,” Kamath added to his tweet thread.

While it will take some time before the long-term implications and effects of AI become apparent, Kamath believes that enterprises should have faith in their employees and let them adjust to the new ways since they’ve helped businesses grow to their current state.

With that said, we are already seeing the effects of development in the AI space, as companies, including IBM have already stated that they will stop hiring for around 7,800 job roles, as they will be served by artificial intelligence.