– CEO says 30% of non-customer-facing roles could be taken over by AI and automation in next five years
International Business Machines (IBM), the world’s top technology corporation, plans to replace its human resource with bots or artificial intelligence for as many as 7,800 jobs within years amid fears this innovation is set to stoke the jobless rate far faster than expected.
“Hiring for jobs that can be done by AI will be suspended or slowed,” IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said while talking to Bloomberg.
According to a report published in Metro.co.uk, this applies especially for back-office functions such as human resources where duties like documenting employee moves to different departments and writing employment verification letters will likely be among the first to be handed over to AI.
Krishna further said that 30% of non-customer-facing roles could be taken over by AI and automation in the next five years.
He however added that jobs focused on dealing directly with customers and developing software are not in immediate danger, according to the CEO.
Krishna’s statement is highly likely to gain traction as AI has taken centre stage, especially after Microsoft Corp-backed OpenAI’s viral chatbot, ChatGPT, took the world by storm in November last year.
IBM has however made it clear that they have not made any changes to their hiring policies as of now.
“IBM is being deliberate and thoughtful in our hiring with a focus on revenue-generating roles, and we’re being very selective when filling jobs that don’t directly touch our clients or technology. We are actively hiring for thousands of positions right now,” IBM told Metro.co.uk.
A study brought forth last month that AI poses a threat to at least 10% of tasks of around 80% of US workers. AI tools like ChatGPT could impact about 50% of tasks of around 19% of workers.
In terms of losing jobs, graduates, masters, and professional degree-holders are more vulnerable than those without formal educational certificates.
First published in The News International