IBM CEO Says AI Has Replaced Hundreds of Workers But Created New Programming, Sales Jobs (wsj.com) 27
IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said the tech giant has used AI, and specifically AI agents, to replace the work of a couple hundred human resources workers. As a result, it has hired more programmers and salespeople, he said. From a report: Krishna's comments on Monday come as businesses sort through the workforce impacts of AI and AI agents, the independent bots that can autonomously perform tasks like analyze spreadsheets, conduct research and draft emails.
While there haven't yet been widespread layoffs or downsizing as a result of AI across the economy, some business leaders have said they are holding down head count as they investigate the use of the technology.
Meanwhile, the information-technology workforce has continued to shrink as AI weighs on hiring and some workers leave the field. For IBM, which this week hosts its annual Think conference in Boston, AI adoption has led it to boost hiring in some functions.
While there haven't yet been widespread layoffs or downsizing as a result of AI across the economy, some business leaders have said they are holding down head count as they investigate the use of the technology.
Meanwhile, the information-technology workforce has continued to shrink as AI weighs on hiring and some workers leave the field. For IBM, which this week hosts its annual Think conference in Boston, AI adoption has led it to boost hiring in some functions.
BUTLERIAN JIHAD coming soon (Score:1)
The Butlerian Jihad will remove these AI agents, replace then back with humanity, and proscribe against using them again.
So said Harry.
So say I
1st Speaker, Third Foundation.
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The Butlerian Jihad will remove these AI agents, replace then back with humanity, and proscribe against using them again.
So said Harry.
So say I
1st Speaker, Third Foundation.
I've wondered myself if humanity will rebel against computer systems, especially AI-centric systems, when the full extent of the damage to the job market becomes apparent.
Thought experiment on AI-driven (un)employment (Score:2)
Inspired by (the late, deep sigh) Marshall Brain's excellent Manna story about automating "Burger-G" and beyond: Let's say you own a hamburger restaurant employing 10 people (as one of ten burger restaurants in a town all owned by different people, each restaurant employing ten people, for a total of 100 people employed flipping burgers in the town), and you decide to automate it with AI and robotics. To use round numbers, before automation, let's say it costs $9 to produce a meal and you sell it for $10 (
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Nice FP branch, but the story mostly makes me sad to remember the better days of IBM. But it may be personal, since most of my career now feels wasted...
In related news, have your AI experiments encouraged you to start thinking like a machine? News at 11 as edited by AI engagement cultivators...
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So many AI producers .... working so hard (Score:5, Insightful)
Dang! Now we need 'AI consumers' to accept all this excess productivity
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That's 0.07% (Score:5, Interesting)
Google says IBM's headcount at the start of the year was about 290,000. Mr. IBM says they've replaced a couple of hundred workers.
200 / 290,000 = 0.07%.
Quite tiny, in the overall scheme of things.
Sales people (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah. And we're seeing them all on Slashdot. Pushing their AI garbage.
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I don't think anyone questions the desired endgame, nor do they doubt that 'good enough' will be used in a heartbeat to get there even if somewhat lacking. The questions just about the relative applicability to one job versus another, and just how good the technology really is or potential. I've been evaluating and while it's certainly likely to enable a whole lot of previously untouchable use cases, it doesn't quite live up to the hype, and everyone breathlessly talking about it taking over just so much of
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the question is who will buy from amazon without jobs?
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"Is being put in place"?!
We have been doing this all my life. I'm not even sure we're in the middle of any sort of "revolution" at all. I have decades of paychecks where I worked on automating peoples' jobs. I just did it oldschool instead of with LLMs. Some day, there might even be AI, which'll certainly take a crack at it.
Of course we don't want to be paying for work that can be done cheaper (and with problems solved once), without wages, workman's comp, etc. You're singing automation's praises.
If you see a person toiling for someone else, that's an opportunity. Wouldn't it be great if that toil wasn't needed? Don't we all wish ditches would dig themselves?!?
It would be awesome to automate away all work, if we lived in a world where human life had value outside of what value it can provide through labor. Until we crack that egg, a problem which no one with the power to do anything is even thinking about, let alone trying to tackle, we will automate away the need for human existence as we automate away potential jobs. Only the owners will have any reason to exist in a fully automated world that places no value on the underclasses.
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i see a future with a lot of idle hands...
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i see a future with a lot of idle hands...
I see a future with a lot of death and despair.
If I had my expenses covered, I'd rarely be "idle" according to the current definition. People seem to believe that the only way people will do anything is if it's forced on them via labor / jobs. I don't know about anyone else, but my entire life has been too busy to get to most of the things I'd like to do. In any given year I probably accomplish about 1/5th of the things I think of to do, and the to do list gets longer all the time. It's hard for me to imagi
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what is the end game? what good is automation if no one can buy the products?
by idle hands i mean that will lead to all sorts of mischief that the powers that be (corpo overlords) perhaps have been ignoring because someone else's problem.
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what is the end game? what good is automation if no one can buy the products? by idle hands i mean that will lead to all sorts of mischief that the powers that be (corpo overlords) perhaps have been ignoring because someone else's problem.
End game? Right now the only end game seems to be feeding the God of Greed. I don't think there's really much thought put into what they are doing beyond that. Give us all the data. Give us all the energy. Give us all the knowledge. Give us all the power. Give us all the money. Give us all the resources.
At some point, they'll have aggregated enough of everything to where there's nothing left for the rest of us. And I promise you, we will be lectured when they've run out of things to strip us of. Mischief wo
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If automation will replace 80% of workers, it should first supplant the workforce to
i hear (Score:2)
I hear AI has replaced the IBM CEO. I also hear that AIs have learned how to lie.
HR status confirmed... (Score:1)