Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, warns his employees that artificial intelligence will replace some of them in the coming years. The countdown has begun.
Artificial intelligence is a threat to jobs. At least, that's what UN experts say, who estimate that 40% of workers will be impacted by artificial intelligence. And they're not the only ones painting a pessimistic picture of the future. We already know there's no going back. AI-based technologies will become increasingly powerful and will be increasingly present in our daily lives, including our work.
In this case, we might as well prepare. Andy Jassy, the head of Amazon, has decided it's best to play fair with the 1.5 million people who work for him worldwide. In an internal memo seen by the BBC, they encourage them to “be curious about AI,” and above all, to prepare for what’s next.
AI will replace more and more employees at Amazon, its boss warns them
“We will need fewer people to do some of the jobs that are done today, and more people to do other types of jobs. […] It’s hard to know exactly what that will look like over time, but in the next few years, we expect the company’s total workforce to shrink as we achieve efficiencies through the extensive use of AI across the company," writes Andy Jassy.
The statement has the merit of being clear about the CEO's intentions, if not indicating who the people concerned will be. Some big names in tech are optimistic on the issue, claiming that AI will create jobs at the same time as it eliminates them.
For Geoffrey Hinton, considered one of the fathers of artificial intelligence, this is a complete bury of the head. “If [AI] can do all the ordinary human intellectual work, what new jobs will it create? You would have to be very qualified to fill a position it couldn't do.” It's hard to know who is right at this stage, but one thing is certain: those who have already been replaced by AI have very bad memories of it.
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