Artificial Intelligence is here and it is replacing humans in the tech industry. Most of us would assume that these are low level repetitive jobs that are being replaced. But the recent layoffs by Microsoft in the gaming industry tell a different story.
Microsoft owned company King has replaced middle management and developers like narrative and level designers with the same AI tools they helped create. Around 10% of the King’s workforce were laid off which would be around 200 employees.
As per reports, Studio King known for developing the Candy Crush Saga is set to fire narrative writers, UX, level design and user research staffs. These people worked for years training AI models that could accomplish tasks that they do more efficiently. Now, the company has told these employees that they face risks losing their jobs. Even the copywriting team who are working on Farm Heroes Saga are expected to face a major downsizing. Here is the internal memo sent to King’s Staff about lay-offs.
Apparently some of the employees in the leadership roles were put on ‘gardening leave’ and are expected to leave in September.
One staffer said, “Most of level design has been wiped, which is crazy since they’ve spent months building tools to craft levels quicker,” adding, “Now those AI tools are basically replacing the teams. Similarly the copywriting team is completely removing people since we now have AI tools that those individuals have been creating.”
The staffer further stated, “If we’re introducing more feedback loops then it’s crazy to remove the developers themselves, we need more hands and less leadership.”
Previous Layoffs by Microsoft and other tech companies
Earlier, Microsoft had laid off around 6000 employees, 3% of its global workforce in a bid to accommodate the use of AI for its services.
This is not just Microsoft that is laying off employees to save costs. Tech giant IBM has recently cracked down on hundreds of HR staff after it found out AI could analyse spreadsheets, conduct research and draft emails more efficiently. This was confirmed by Chief Executive Officer Arvind Krishna who said IBM used AI to replace HR employees in the company. Similarly, networking company CISCO reduced 7% of its total workforce for restructuring because of AI.
Meanwhile, Indian IT companies remain optimistic about the integration of AI into the workforce. Last year, Infosys CEO Salil Parekh rejected lay offs due to Artificial Intelligence.
Sanjeev Jain, Chief Operating Officer at Wipro said, “At Wipro, our focus is on augmentation rather than replacement, with the aim of transforming the way we work across various domains such as marketing, HR and client delivery.”
According to Wipro, instead of replacing its existing staffs, it is using AI to improve employee experience. There might not be immediate pressure for the Indian companies to replace humans with AI tools in India. Several reasons might contribute to this. Size of Indian population, cheaper workforce or a different kind of business model. But companies in the west are demonstrating that AI can actually replace humans in creative roles and not just limited to the automated ones. How long will Indian companies take to follow suit?
