CEOs are adamant that AI will work alongside humans, and not usher in a jobs armageddon. But technology is already taking over many duties from people at some of the biggest Fortune 500 companies.
It’s been revealed that Meta plans to replace its human staffers with AI in reviewing the platform’s privacy and societal risks. According to the company’s internal documents obtained by NPR, the algorithm could automate up to 90% of all risk assessments previously done by people. This means that essential updates to Meta’s safety features, programming, and content sharing capabilities will be mainly optimized by AI.
This spells trouble for the humans at Meta who have been doing the work from the get-go. And they’re not the only employees who have faced the harsh realities of an AI-driven business world; Klarna, Salesforce, and Duolingo have all toyed with the idea of eliminating roles in leveraging their companies with technology.
“As risks evolve and our program matures, we enhance our processes to better identify risks, streamline decision-making, and improve people’s experience,” a Meta spokesperson told Fortune in a statement. The company didn’t confirm or deny the details from NPR‘s reporting.
“We leverage technology to add consistency and predictability to low-risk decisions and rely on human expertise for rigorous assessments and oversight of novel or complex issues. Our commitment is to deliver innovative products for people while meeting regulatory obligations.”
AI stepping in at Meta to assess privacy and societal risks
From the get-go humans have conducted nearly all of Meta’s privacy and integrity reviews. But algorithms could soon be in charge of handling incredibly sensitive issues.
The $1.46 trillion technology company told Fortune that it still relies on “human expertise for rigorous assessments and oversight of novel or complex issues,” and that AI will only take over “low-risk decisions.” But internal documents procured by NPR show that technology is slated to evaluate cases like AI safety, youth risk, violent content, and the spread of falsehoods, which have historically been done by Meta’s employees. Those human risk assessors needed the sign-off from others to send out updates—now, AI will make its own evaluations on dangers.
Zvika Krieger, the director of responsible innovation at Meta from 2020 2022, told NPR that these human job duties could get a lift from some optimization. But there’s a line companies shouldn’t cross with AI doing people’s jobs—it’s simply not better after a certain point.
“If you push that too far, inevitably the quality of review and the outcomes are going to suffer,” Krieger said.
Humans being replaced by AI across companies
Klarna and its CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski aren’t shy about seeing the promise of AI over humans at work. The financial services company stopped hiring in late 2023, letting natural attrition run its course, whittling down its 4,500 staffer base down to 3,500 in 2024. The business said it saved $10 million annually by using AI for marketing needs, to cut back in-house lawyer time, and optimize its communications roles. Its chatbot even does the work of 700 customer service agents—solving cases nine minutes faster than humans.
“Look, a lot of the jobs are going to be threatened. And what are the jobs that people like the least? It’s lawyers, CEOs, and bankers, and I happen to be both CEO and banker,” Siemiatkowski told Bloomberg. “So I said, ‘Let’s replace our jobs first.’”
Advanced technology is also cutting jobs in another way; earlier this year $258 billion giant Salesforce announced it would cut 1,000 roles as it looks to hire more AI sales agents. And in late April, Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn said the language-learning app would be “AI-first.” That meant phasing out any contracting work that could be handled by AI, and only allowing new hires when teams prove they can’t use algorithms for the job. The chief executive walked back his statement shortly after.
“To be clear: I do not see AI as replacing what our employees do (we are in fact continuing to hire at the same speed as before),” Von Ahn wrote on LinkedIn. “I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen with AI, but I do know it’s going to fundamentally change the way we work, and we have to get ahead of it.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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