International

Artificial Intelligence Makes 4000 People Lose Their Jobs In US

US employers cited AI as the reason for 3,900 of the layoffs, which is roughly 4.9% of May's job cuts.

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Artificial Intelligence
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Around 4,000 people in US have lost their jobs because of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

According to the report in NDTV, the people who were laid off in May in US this year lost their jobs because of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

It said that US employers cited AI as the reason for 3,900 of the layoffs, which is roughly 4.9% of May's job cuts. 

It said that between January and May, there were about 417,500 lost jobs, making it the worst five-month start to a year since 2020, when the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic led to more than 1.4 million layoffs. 

“Outside of the pandemic, the report stated that the start of 2023 produced the worst layoff numbers since the 820,000 layoffs that took place in 2009,” it said.

It added: "Consumer confidence is down to a six-month low and job openings are flattening. Companies appear to be putting the brakes on hiring in anticipation of a slowdown.” 

It also said business closure was the most common reason in May for layoffs, resulting in 19,600 losing jobs. 

“Behind that was market/economic conditions for about 14,600 and no reason provided for 12,900. During the five months of 2023, economic conditions too prompted the most announced job cuts, cited as the reason for nearly 206,300,” it added.

Meanwhile, according to CBS News, the Challenger, Gray & Christmas report comes at a time when businesses across the globe are adopting advanced AI technology to automate a range of tasks, including creative work, such as writing, administrative and clerical work, it said.

It also mentioned this week, that two copywriters lost their livelihoods because employers (or clients) decided that ChatGPT could perform the job at a cheaper price. 

It also said Media company CNET also laid off reporters while using AI to write articles. 

It added in March, investment bank Goldman Sachs predicted in a report that AI could eventually replace 300 million full-time jobs globally and affect nearly one-fifth of employment.