The software giant is allowing robot reporters to take the place of humans
A technology that is bound to replace several of the activities that employ humans will always raise a debate. Artificial intelligence (AI) is not there yet, but it certainly is making the first steps towards that goal. Tech giant Microsoft is about to fire 27 journalists that are getting their jobs replaced by AI machines that are selecting, curating and editing news articles on the MSN and Edge homepages. Last week, those journalists were told they will be losing their jobs in about a month since they are no longer needed, as robots can do their jobs now.
“I spend all my time reading about how automation and AI are going to take all our jobs, and here I am – AI has taken my job,” said one staff member. For this individual, this might be a risky move for the company, as well as the businesses reporting the news on their sites. He said that AI machines have a strict check of the abusive and harmful content and other minor detections that may stop the blog from getting listed at the top of the lists.
A Microsoft spokesperson said, “We are in the process of winding down the Microsoft team working at PA, and we are doing everything we can to support the individuals concerned. We are proud of the work we have done with Microsoft and know we delivered a high-quality service. Like all companies, we evaluate our business on a regular basis. This can result in increased investment in some places and, from time to time, redeployment in others. These decisions are not the result of the current pandemic.” This might be the beginning of the time in which AI will start taking over more jobs.
