The Subtle Impact of AI on Employment
Okay, this is exactly the kind of thing we’ve been talking about for the last few years where artificial intelligence is going to have a very subtle and sometimes behind-the-scenes effect on the employment market. Here’s an article from a local paper in San Francisco talking about how the company Salesforce, which is one of the largest employers in the San Francisco Silicon Valley area, is not going to hire any new engineers at all this year because of AI. Now, this is not the same as recession-style layoffs.
The Quiet Reduction in Workforce
This is a very quiet, subtle reduction in work staff. Any company that’s growing, that’s building up their business, is going to be hiring new people each year, and that’s how employment increases. When a company stops hiring new people, it doesn’t come across as a layoff, it doesn’t come across as a job reduction, but it will affect the employment market because there are new people coming into the employment market each year, and if there are not new jobs to absorb them, the effect will be the same as layoffs because more people now are coming into the job market and there aren’t jobs for them.
The Impact on Small Businesses
So now, in effect, they’re unemployed by a lack of new jobs, and Salesforce is a very good example. They’re not the only company that’s doing this. It’s a very high-profile company, it’s a very high-tech company, so this is why it makes the news. But every small mom-and-pop company that maybe has 10 employees may be not hiring that one extra person this year because AI will help them with some efficiencies in their enterprise, and that’s going to keep new hiring and new employment lower.
Automation and Cost Reduction
Now, some of it might be attributed to a reduction in the economy. Maybe there’s inflation, but a lot of this is going to be forced automation. Forced automation. If you are a supplier, any kind of company, and you have clients that are buying from you, they’re going to be demanding lower costs, and the only way you’re going to be able to do that is some type of automation. In today’s world, automation comes in the form of AI, artificial intelligence, or at least what is called AI. Sometimes it’s just advanced automation, it’s not true artificial intelligence.
The Silent Growth of AI in the Economy
This is a very subtle, behind-the-scenes way that artificial intelligence is creeping into the economy, creeping into the job market, creeping into the efficiency stream, and the structure of economics in the US.
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How AI Affects You as a Consumer
How do you deal with this as a person? Well, if you are a consumer, you want to look to see if AI is serving you. Sometimes artificial intelligence helps you, makes your buying experience better. Sometimes it doesn’t. If you can reach an actual human—no pun intended—then it might make your experience less appealing. But if every company has AI for customer service, for sales inquiries where you can’t talk to an actual human, then you don’t really have a choice.
How to Adapt in the Employment Market
What about in the employment market? Well, if you’re going to be an employee in a company and AI is creeping in, what do you do? How do you defend against that? Well, one thing you can do is learn how to run the AI. It’s still going to require humans to manage and input the AI itself. So if you’re the one out of 10 in your division that knows how to do it, they won’t have to go outside and bring in a new person because, as we can see here, they don’t want to hire new people. So you can generate those skills, especially if you already know the job and the department, the division that this AI is being used for. You having knowledge of that department and division and the AI is the perfect combination for your employer.
The Future of AI and Human Management
Here is the most important takeaway quote from this article: “My message to CEOs right now is we are the last generation to manage only humans.” Think about that. This is the CEO of a large tech company, one of the largest, saying that they’re the last generation to manage only humans.
Salesforce’s Vision for Digital Labor
Salesforce’s earnings call indicates that companies of the future will have hybrid human and digital workforces, and Salesforce is trying to take the lead. They want to become the number one digital labor provider. What is a digital labor provider? That’s getting rid of humans. Getting rid of humans.
The Race to Build Virtual Employees
So this is where it’s going. The hottest technologies in Silicon Valley, the biggest companies, are racing to build virtual employees. Racing to build virtual employees. Sophisticated virtual employees. So if they’re racing to build them and this is the last generation to manage only humans, what does that say for many humans? Forget about the cultural, societal part of it. Think about yourself first. How do you fit into all that? How do you survive in that kind of a world? Very important that you think about that now because it’s only going to be a matter of time when it’s reality.
