Fear of job loss due to generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is slowly becoming a reality after International Business Machine Corp (IBM) announced pausing their hiring of over 7,800 jobs, which they think could be replaced by Artificial Intelligence in the next five years. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said in an interview with Bloomberg on May 2, “I could easily see 30% of that getting replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period. The cuts will primarily impact non-customer-facing roles, such as human resources, a division that accounts for approximately 26,000 workers.” However, the international computing giant headquartered in New York clarified that people currently in these 7,800 jobs would not be fired. The PC-maker firm further told the publication that the reduction could include not replacing roles vacated by attrition.

The firm, which currently employs about 260,000 people, had announced job cuts accounting for 1.5% of its workforce earlier this year. A spokesperson for IBM told Insider in an emailed comment: “There is no blanket hiring ‘pause’ in place. IBM is being deliberate and thoughtful in our hiring with a focus on revenue-generating roles, and we’re being very selective when filling jobs that don’t directly touch our clients or technology. We are actively hiring for thousands of positions right now.”

In another shocking development in the AI sphere, Geoffrey Hinton, popularly known as the “godfather” of AI, has quit Google. He sent a stern warning to the world about the growing danger of AI. In an interview with the New York Times, he called the AI chatbots ‘quite scary’. The cognitive psychologist and computer scientist told BBC, ”Right now, they’re not more intelligent than us, as far as I can tell. But I think the chatbot could soon overtake the level of information that a human brain holds.” Dr. Hinton further warned against some “bad actors” who would try to use AI for “bad things.”

A report published on March 28 by investment bank Goldman Sachs said that Artificial Intelligence could diminish 300 million full-time jobs and a quarter of work tasks will be upended in the United States and Europe. It may also mean new jobs and a productivity boom in these regions, as automation and innovation due to AI will lead to new kinds of jobs. There will be cost savings for companies which could then spend on growing their business, ultimately increasing Global GDP by 7%. The report by investment bank notes AI’s impact will vary across different sectors, with 46% of tasks in administrative and 44% in legal professions could be automated but only 6% in construction & 4% in maintenance. Business and financial operations, management, sales, healthcare, and art and design are some sectors that automation will impact.

Jack Dorsey, the tech billionaire and founder of Twitter and Square, said on an episode of the Yang Speaks podcast, “We talk a lot about the self-driving trucks and whatnot.” He added, “ AI is even coming for programming jobs. A lot of the goals of machine learning and deep learning is to write the software itself over time, so a lot of entry-level programming jobs will just not be as relevant anymore.” Researchers say that the downside of AI is currently overtaking its boons, leading to possible lost wages and rising income inequality.