For the first time ever, Artificial Intelligence has been included as one of the reasons behind American companies executing job cuts. The US companies cut over 80,000 jobs last month, up 20 per cent from April due to reasons such as market conditions, restructuring and buyouts and Artificial Intelligence, according to a report by Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The report said that in May, 3,900 people were laid off due to Artificial Intelligence.
“We do believe Artificial Intelligence will cause more job loss, though we are surprised how quickly technology was cited as a reason,” Andy Challenger, senior vice president of the outplacement firm, was quoted as saying by the Fortune magazine.
“It is incredible the speed the technology is evolving and being adapted,” Challenger added without specifying which companies had the AI-related job cuts.
A recent survey by software company Krista found most people believe that AI will affect their jobs at one point or the other. But while only 11 per cent of employees at managerial levels said that the technology will negatively affect their work, the number nearly doubled when it came to the rank-and-file workers.
Earlier in March, Goldman Sachs said in a report that 18 per cent of all jobs worldwide and a fourth of all jobs in the United States and Europe could be automated.
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The report also found that white collar jobs such as the ones in the IT and finance sectors as well as the administrative and legal jobs were at greater risk of being replaced by the AI than the blue-collar ones that require physical labour.
Artificial Intelligence can automate tasks such as writing code, and other tasks that require years for humans to learn.
With that kind of computing power, some companies find it cheaper and more efficient to enlist Artificial Intelligence than employ people.
“The uncertainty lies in whether companies will cite A.I. as a reason [for termination] going forward,” Challenger is further quoted as saying by the Fortune magazine.
“It remains to be seen how investors will react to that sort of adoption that costs human jobs.”
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