Microsoft CEO: AI to Help, Not Replace Workers

By Staff Writer | Jan 17, 2017 12:58 PM EST

Artificial intelligence has taken a major shift from something that has been almost capitulated as science fiction, towards becoming a buzzword every tech company is anticipated to build into their latest innovations. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella commented on the implementation of AI during a recent DLD conference in Munich, urging companies to reason and take a considerate approach towards AI.

"The fundamental need of every person is to be able to use their time more effectively, not to say, 'let us replace you'," he commented at the conference, according to Bloomberg.

Nadella acknowledged that AI will be slightly democratized this year. However, the notion of his revised mission statement for Microsoft to "empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more" remains unchanged. Nadella said she finds it exciting that AI does not only exhibits strong promises for products but extends the capability and makes it available in the hands of developers and organizations.

It is interesting to watch a CEO introducing a humanistic approach to create a healthy balance with the rising technologies. Nevertheless, it is hard to deny that the lightest approach to AI could lead to stronger implementations that could, at the end, replace human workers. In other words, It will still not stop AI from hurting human workers.

In that sense, artificial intelligence will penetrate into automation soon enough, something that is already threatening manufacturing jobs in spite of the increasing productivity rate for companies. What's more, the technology could eventually end up replacing retail jobs soon, similar to the case of Amazon Go concept store.

More Sections