Tech: A company paid a small team to provide high-quality content to Spanish-speaking readers. But now, they are laying off all employees and leaving the task to AI.
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used in more and more areas. Software like ChatGPT has become so good that thousands of people have lost their jobs to AI.
Now, Ars Technica reports that the online magazine Gizmodo has laid off a team to let AI take over the work. One of the former employees, Matìas S. Zavia, posted this on Twitter:
The tweet says (in Spanish):
Hello, friends. On Tuesday, @GizmodoES was shut down to transform it into a self-publishing translation shop (an AI literally took over my job).
Soon, I will start looking for a new job. If you know of an offer that matches my 13 years of experience, I would be very grateful for your help.
Team developed projects and translated texts into Spanish
What was the team responsible for before the layoffs? The team was responsible for translating English-language content into Spanish or developing their own projects. According to Ars Technica, this was the parent company’s attempt to make its websites more international and not just offer content for the home country.
But that’s it for now. Gizmodo has laid off its Spanish-speaking team and is now relying on an AI translator. At the end of the translated articles, there is a disclaimer indicating the machine translation and linking to the original.
Since summer 2023, the parent company of Gizmodo has supposedly been relying on AI-generated content. It seems this went so far that the union felt compelled to criticize it as unethical. Gizmodo reportedly did not inform the editors about this practice, nor did it report otherwise. Moreover, the texts were sometimes prone to errors and inaccuracies.
Replacing employees with AI is controversial and is rarely well-received
What is the current situation? It is not uncommon for companies to replace their employees with AI. A good AI can take on a lot of work and replace people. Companies like to talk about “cost optimization.” People often report that they lose their jobs to AI or receive fewer orders because artificial intelligence takes over these tasks.
But not all such “restructurings” end well, and AI can also cause a lot of nonsense. For example, cbsnews.com reported:
- Media companies like CNET laid off several reporters and let AI take over the tasks. The AI’s articles had to be corrected afterward due to plagiarism accusations.
- A counseling center used a chatbot for eating disorders to replace human employees who had unionized. After the bot gave people problematic advice, it had to be shut down.
Nevertheless, more and more people fear that they could lose their jobs to artificial intelligence. Because it is getting better and making many things easier.
Are there any safe jobs? The CEO of ChatGPT stated in an interview which professions cannot be replaced by AI. In total, he came up with 34 professions that are safe from artificial intelligence. Besides bus drivers and hairdressers, there are also some other, less known jobs:
The inventor of AI ChatGPT reveals which 34 professions AI can never replace
