Microsoft is cutting down over a dozen of its journalists and editorial workers at its Microsoft News and MSN organizations and replacing them with Artificial Intelligence algorithms.
With the world currently in the midst of crises and many companies and organizations taking several routes to cut down expenditure at all cost.
Human workforce now seems somewhat irrelevant with several works layed off, some furloughed and placed on government payment schemes or even placed on enforced leave without pay.
Andela, last month layed off most of its Developers and general staff while Uber is said have sacked quite a number of its working staff too just to mention but a few.
However, Microsoft seems to have gone full James Bond by introducing Artificial intelligence in place of human journalist and news editors.
You sure don’t want to believe in that “Robots have replacing human jobs” right?
The layoffs are part of a bigger push by Microsoft to rely on artificial intelligence to pick news and content that’s presented on MSN.com, inside Microsoft’s Edge browser, and in the company’s various Microsoft News apps.
Many of the 70+ affected workers are reportedly part of Microsoft’s SANE (search, ads, News, Edge) division, and are contracted as human editors to help pick stories.
“Like all companies, we evaluate our business on a regular basis,” says a Microsoft spokesperson in a statement. “This can result in increased investment in some places and, from time to time, re-deployment in others. These decisions are not the result of the current pandemic.”
While Microsoft says the layoffs aren’t directly related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, media businesses across the world have been hit hard by advertising revenues plummeting across TV, newspapers, online, and more.
However, the ongoing pandemic has brought a lot of shift to the tech ecosystem and the world at large with companies profiting where other’s failed but to say the world is ready yet for a full immersive machine-exclusive experience? Well, anything is possible.
Originally Posted On NaijaTechGuy
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