As layoffs in the tech sector grow - and Big Tech firms attempt to claim it is because of increased efficiency and productivity from AI, those claims are being met with some skepticism.
Firstly, because questions about how to optimize AI's impact have not been convincingly demonstrated by many if not most organizations, and secondly because many of the layoffs appear driven more by financial and executive compensation effects than by actual AI impact. But a third consideration is that employees enhance the ability of businesses to deploy AI effectively so that getting rid of too many of them too soon could negatively affect optimization. Feeding the narrative that AI is a convenient excuse to lay off human employees may also contribute to the increasing public narrative that AI is not likely to positively affect anyone other than a relatively few tech executives and investors. JL
Tech companies are rushing to trade their people for more chips. Some of them might regret the exchange. Dressing up layoffs as visionary moves for the age of AI carries risks. Rampant layoffs hurt morale and create an exit incentive for other employees, especially talented ones with alternatives. For all of AI’s capabilities, people will be needed to figure out business models, deal with customers and make sure AI tools are being deployed and used safely. Smart castaways might establish startups that end up competing with the big tech companies. The layoffs also lend credence to a growing public perception that AI isn’t a panacea but a job killer. That will feed a backlash already constraining AI, as more communities fight against the construction of massive data centers.























