IBM CEO Says that he Plans to Pause Hiring, Replace 7800 Jobs w AI
A few outlets reporting this. The CEO said that 30% of non-customer-facing roles could be replaced with AI.
Many companies have been discussing the implementation of AI, but this feels new. A straight up message saying yes we will replace jobs.
To me, the existential implications of this are wild. Where does the line start, and end, in replacing humans with machine learning?
Will this help IBM profits? Maybe. But what is the human toll of this? Should we really, as a society, be actively looking to kick people out of jobs, remove their livelihood, all in the name of efficiency?
Honestly, this is a scary and very slippery slope IMO. Curious on other thoughts or opinions.
My view is that there is no line.
Replacement for greater efficiency/output at a lower cost is a tale as old as time. Except this is the first time its actually really hitting the white collar world in a momentous, game changing way. This time maybe it stops at the low value, high volume, data intensive tasks and those of us with sales/relationship jobs don't get it. The next iteration who knows. Regardless, the system is built on maximizing shareholder value, it rewards ruthless efficiency. We can't just go "no not like that" when we are the ones being "efficiencied" out.
Fully expect some kind of "job protection" action from Congress or whatever, but there are obviously more pressing matters ahead of the elections next year (that's me being sarcastic).
International Business Machines
They need to lay off, and AI is a convenient scapegoat. You aren't going to "replace" 7800 people with AI. Nobody understands it yet, least of all IBM. This seems like a hail mary
Good point, did not consider the scapegoat angle. Probably going to see a bunch of that going forward.
To be fair, a lot of IBM jobs probably deserve to be replaced lol
It will be very interesting to see how lower-tier white collar tech work gets automated away as AI programs keep improving faster and faster. The engineering jobs alone I think will be a blood bath, why even outsource at 1/5th the cost to some developing country if you can just ask some ChatGPT derivative to write and bug check something for you in an afternoon?
Do you mean software engineer or mechanical/electrical engineer? I have an engineering background and I asked it some simple volume questions that a 7th grader could solve and it absolutely butchered it.
It’s notoriously terrible with math.
I'm talking about software, should've specified sorry. Although given that all engineering at its base is math, I'm sure that if there were some way to marry an OpenAI derivative with advanced enough CAD/CAE software that it would threaten traditional engineering disciplines as well. The fact is given enough time and data to train with, most jobs will face pressure from AI automation.
Capitalism as we know it will probably be dead in a decade. The system just won’t work with human capital being mostly worthless compared to AI. No need to be scared just be smart with your money and spend the next decade building your egg to prepare for this wild ride
Although this seems quite premature, it most certainly raises awareness of where the future is headed. Not wishing anyone to get caught in the AI arms race, but I do find it ironic (for this site) that "sales" roles are viewed with so much disdain while they are likely the least effected. Think about it. IBM is going to lay off 7800 non relationship based positions. They'll be lower functioning but function level will increase over time as tech function increases. Not saying all aspects of sales are safe but I think they are furthest removed as people like dealing with people.
As a society, we need to be really careful about how far we take this whole efficiency thing. I'm a capitalist and don't think companies exist to provide jobs. I fully believe they exist to maximize shareholder value while providing the best product / service possible (which keeps them competitive). But when the efficiency leads to massive layoffs with no plan of retraining a work force for higher level function things will get pretty scary. Who will be able to purchase the products / services? Just something to watch.
A friend of mine is a F500 CFO. Long before AI was a topic, we discussed efficiency and managing the business. Without hesitation he stated, if viable, he would eliminate as many jobs as possible while continuing to provide great service, grow to scale, etc. Just couldn't squeeze out much more cost without effecting the trajectory of the company (at that time). But in theory he would get rid of them all if it made financial sense. As a C-Suite / board member (fiduciary), he's required to think about these things. Looks like he'll soon have the tools to put some of that in to practice.
I would highly suggest two things going forward:
1. Become as useful as possible (well beyond your role).
2. Consider getting client facing and become really good at that. The deeper relationships you control, the more value you bring.
I think sales will actually be the savior when it's all said and done. And you'll make a ton of money along the way.
IBM is a bloated and inefficient company. This was probably long overdue and didn't need AI as a scapegoat to make this move
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