IBM’s CEO just said the quiet part out loud on AI-related job losses

Ultimately, the main (or only) cost you have in a business is labor. Cutting costs means cutting the amount of work required to do something. If you invent a new technology which makes it faster to write or test code, then you need fewer people to achieve the same productivity.<p>Of course AI was about cutting jobs; you cannot cut costs without putting a dent in someone&#x27;s employment somewhere. We should stop allowing people to lie about this and instead hold a percentage of their increased profitability accountable by taxing it and redirecting it to basic income.

Bear in mind the history (from Wikipedia)<p>&gt; IBM originated from the unification of several companies that worked to automate routine business transactions, including the first companies to build punched card-based data tabulating machines and build time clocks. In 1911, these companies were amalgamated into the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR)<p>Even 130+ years ago, replacing humans doing routine-enough-to-automate work was the main objective.

“That means you can get the same work done with fewer people&quot;.<p>Not exactly news that firms view AI as a way to cut headcount, but interesting to see that IBM&#x27;s chief exec has been so outspoken on the subject in recent months. Already cutting staff in HR and back office roles with the view of automating them long-term.