Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already a reality, and Amazon doesn’t want to miss the mark. Andy Jassy (CEO of Amazon) has warned his 1.5 million employees that they will be replaced by robots with artificial intelligence. Yes, that blunt. Amazon is going to reduce its human workforce to make room for chatbots and AI agents. They want to be more innovative, more efficient… and that can only be offered by artificial intelligence, of course. They say they will look for more qualified and specific profiles, but the reality we know is that there will likely be less need for human workers. Are we facing a catastrophe or a leap in productivity?
Amazon AI and its consequences
That’s how it happened, on an ordinary morning, Andy Jassy woke up and decided to send a message to all Amazon employees specifying that Artificial Intelligence was going to take their jobs. Well, he didn’t say it exactly like that, but that they wanted to be more innovative and automate the company’s work activities. Translated, this means more machines and less human capital in the big warehouses.
The discomfort
It didn’t take long for workers to complain that Amazon was going to use AI to reduce staff and maintain the same business pace instead of combining human capital with technological advances. And although Amazon assures that the transition will be “gradual”, it’s clear that many workers will have to look for another job.
There are precedents
The giant has been investing for years in language models and computer vision. With AWS Bedrock, Amazon sells AI as a service to third parties, while using the same technology to optimize logistics, customer service, and product description writing.
Amazon is not alone
As you read, fieldwork has its days numbered. Microsoft will allocate billions to the development of Copilot while cutting sales positions. Salesforce has paused hiring engineers, and Shopify recommended justifying why a human is a better option than a bot before opening a vacancy… The world seems to have gone crazy. The World Economic Forum estimates that 41% of companies plan to reduce net employment due to AI in the next three years… So what will we eat then?
End of work or paradigm shift?
Labor market specialists agree: there is no immediate massive destruction of salaried work… Rather a metamorphosis (in the long run, it will end up being massive destruction, that’s something we know).
It is believed that from now on, prompt engineers, algorithm auditors, conversational experience designers, and digital ethics technicians will be in demand. Will you fit the profile?
And the salaries?
It is still too early to know whether salaries will be affected or not. Of course, those who are replaced by AIs will see their wages completely reduced, you know… For now, it is believed that jobs more exposed to AI (those working with it) will see salary increases as long as workers master it.
What will it be for?
Mainly to save work we consider routine or mechanical, like billing, support, or picking up orders in hard-to-reach places. Also, the chatbot service will function like the well-known ChatGTP and solve as many doubts as you have.
What challenges lie ahead?
Mainly, they will need to train staff in AI tools before starting to use the technologies. However, the advantages will be much greater… AI doesn’t get sick, doesn’t ask for days off, and doesn’t take vacations… and capitalism loves that.
Amazon AI has arrived to improve work. There will be no apocalypse or utopias (for now), but they will need to find the perfect balance to avoid affecting as many workers as expected… What does the future hold for us?