Mass layoffs linked to applications of artificial intelligence have fueled talks on artificial intelligence’s (AI) impact on the workforce. What is the extent of AI displacing humans in the workplace?
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00:00 Ride-hailing company Grab recently announced its plan for mass layoff.
00:04 Grab, which is based in Singapore, told employees in an email that artificial intelligence or AI
00:12 has changed the market realities. Should this raise concerns about AI deplacing humans in
00:18 the workplace? I'm Serena Zheng. This is Tech Asia. Let's dive in.
00:29 Recently, Grab announced that it is cutting 1,000 jobs, and that's like one in every 10
00:35 of its workforce. Its chief executive told employees that this is a strategic reorganization
00:41 to adapt to a market changed by generative AI. Similar layoffs were announced by other
00:47 gig economy companies, such as Goto in Indonesia, Just It in the UK, and Lift in the US.
00:54 An earlier Goldman Sachs report even predicted that AI could affect 300 million jobs across
01:01 the world by 2030. So how exactly does AI impact the job market, and how can we adapt to this trend?
01:08 We talked to Mr. Peter Leong, co-chairman of the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management,
01:15 to learn more.
01:20 I think it's good that AI can improve the efficiency and accuracy of our workplace.
01:28 In certain areas, especially in those with dangerous tasks, for example, with dangerous gas
01:34 in some confined space, I think AI technology can help much by using that in the automated robots,
01:44 helping the human beings to go through those dangerous tasks. AI is creating jobs for those
01:52 who are creating AI. We have to train people to make use of AI to assist our daily operation.
02:00 Many, many of the administrative work done by the clerks, the secretaries, the typists,
02:06 they are facing a tremendous threat by the AI. Repetitive work, some of them have already been
02:13 replaced by the machines. But then, there are some human elements that you cannot forgo. For example,
02:21 in the HR profession, we have somebody who takes care of the performance management of our front
02:27 line staff. They cannot be replaced by machines, because those with performance problems, they
02:34 refuse to talk to machines. For those who need counselling, they need a human to talk to them.
02:41 Those are very technical and very, I think, sophisticated aspects that human beings know,
02:48 but machines take a long time to learn. Restructuring of the jobs is also one of the
02:56 key components that HR persons and those corporate owners have to be responsible for.
03:04 How to restructure the organisation, making use of the best talent in the team to master the AI,
03:11 master the technology, and foster a culture of innovation is very, very important. Nowadays,
03:17 I think AI is a tide, but I think it's not going to fade away. You have to have a passion
03:25 of creating an innovation culture and employees feel valued inside the organisation.
03:34 Another development that's created a buzz on social media is the launch of Threats,
03:39 a text-based platform by Meta. Within just a week, Threats exceeded 100 million users.
03:46 Some social media analysts and netizens say Threats could end up being the Twitter killer.
03:51 To discuss this, we talked to Mr. Ralph Grango from Inquirer.net. Hello, Ralph,
03:57 thanks for joining us. Could you first share with us some of his main features?
04:03 It's similar to old Twitter before Musk came in and basically took over.
04:08 So very similar to what early Twitter, but it has a cleaner look. And in terms of the audience that
04:14 it brings, of course, since that it's linked to Instagram, I believe what Meta is using for this
04:20 one is trying to target the younger market who are Instagram users, but also Twitter users housed
04:28 all in Meta. Threats has stated its desire to stay away from news and politics. It says it
04:35 will not just focus on discussion over politics and news like Twitter does. So as a journalist,
04:42 how do you think that will affect your ability to reach an audience? We see it as an opportunity for
04:48 us, in particular the Philippines. We are one of the biggest consumers of news via social media.
04:53 Threads offers us a platform to engage a younger crowd and one that's actually
04:58 really looking for news. The question now for publishers like us is, so what do we do with it?
05:04 So do we basically engage people in the same manner that we engage for Meta or Twitter even?
05:09 Or do we tap into this new audience, the ones that are looking for meaningful conversations,
05:16 but at the same time are not afraid to call us out? We see that Threads has attracted over a
05:22 million users within just one week. And at the same time, Twitter's user traffic has slowed since
05:28 the launch of Threads. Is there any advantage that you recognize that Threads has over Twitter?
05:34 People are attracted to Threads because it's an easier, seamless experience.
05:40 You just log into Threads, post your stuff, you post your status,
05:44 attach an image and you're good. Which is what people really like on Twitter to begin with.
05:48 They just like to share about their day quickly and have people respond to it. So
05:54 that's where the advantage of Threads lies over Twitter at this point.
05:58 In Asia, the social media landscape is slightly different. We have apps like WhatsApp, Line,
06:05 etc. more popular in Asia than in other regions. How do you think Threads will change this landscape?
06:11 I'd like for Threads to basically create that change in the same way that its parent company
06:16 did with Facebook. It fills a void that Twitter is currently not providing. And if they do it right,
06:22 they actually might pull it off. Thank you, Ralph, for your time. And that's it for this
06:27 week's Tech Asia. I'm Serena Zheng. Join us next week for more reporting on tech from the Asian
06:34 perspective.
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