According to IBM CEO Arvind Krishna these jobs are at risk of being replaced by AI
In an interview, Arvind Krishna points out the jobs that are likely to be replaced by AI in the future. “50% of call center jobs are going to be displaced,” he said.
The fears and concerns about AI job losses are not unfounded. Arvind Krishna, who is the CEO of IBM, has acknowledged that AI or artificial intelligence will take away some jobs, although he is also optimistic that there will be more jobs in the future. But this will require upskilling and reskilling. In a recent interview, the IBM chief revealed a list of jobs/roles that are most at risk of being replaced by AI.
Which jobs are at risk of being replaced by AI?
In an interview with Bloomberg, Arvind Krishna described call center jobs as one of the roles that are highly likely to be replaced by AI. “Call center jobs, I can easily see 50% of them disappearing over time,” he said. Along with call center roles, internal helpdesk roles are also on the radar, “people who are on internal helpdesks like IT, HR. I think many of them will be gone.”
Krishna also warned that roles involving repetitive tasks like matching numbers could see significant cuts, “If I look at jobs that are matching documents to make sure they’re the same, like what happens in accounts payable and accounts receivable, I can see half of them going.”
He also talked about corporate responsibility, saying, “The onus is on us to make sure we can give workers other skills.” Due to AI or changes in the world, some jobs will inevitably disappear while new jobs will emerge, he stressed the importance of “upskilling and reskilling” so that people affected by layoffs can move into “productive roles.”
Now, what are those productive roles or areas? Krishna gave the example of research and development as one of the productive sectors. He said his company IBM increased research and development and hired 10,000 people. “So there’s going to be a lot of hiring in areas that are more productive (like research and development).” Acknowledging the coming job displacement, he said, “The net addition of jobs is much greater than the job displacement.”
Arvind Krishna took charge of IBM in 2020; Since then IBM has seen a steady transformation away from legacy businesses to accelerate efforts in higher-value areas. The company is focusing more on generative AI, hybrid cloud, and software-based services, which it sees as keys to its future. The CEO previously said that AI is already having an impact inside IBM, revealing that AI tools have taken over the equivalent of about 200 human resources employees.