Microsoft Lays Off Another 9,000 Employees, Bringing Its Two-Year Job Cuts Total to Nearly 27,000 as It Invests in Building AI Infrastructure

Peter_Brosdahl

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Microsoft has announced yet another round of layoffs following its acquisition of Activision Blizzard amid its current heavy investments in AI.

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Want some fries with that shake? Oh wait robots are coming for those too.
 
It's like we're going back to the days of people who know the hardware and communications infrastructure are going back into the limelight where we started. I feel for programmers... but they were by and large never really in the hard core computer engineering. Just like guys who define protocols and communications, and cpu's would say about me. ;)
 
Grimlakin said:
If you didn't see ai costing entry level tech jobs... you weren't thinking.
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Not that I disagree with the statement, because I personally believe people abdicate critical thought when they use AI ... but let's explore the underlying premise.

Does this presuppose that entry level jobs are not necessary?

If entry level jobs are eliminated, where will the next generation of skilled professionals come from? Every organization has some measure of internal promotion ... where a senior person leaves or retires and underlings get promoted in order to retain and promulgate institutional knowledge. Who will fill the void at the bottom of the chain? AI, you say. How long will it be until AI fills the CEO's position?

Will the standard level of skill required for next-level-above-entry devolve to allow entry to a profession? Previously entry level meant little or no experience, but able to be trained. The new entry level will require experience (at least in using AI to achieve outcomes). Where will that experience come from? Where will the training be provided?

If an organization has difficulty with recruitment and filling entry level positions, does it seem likely that a pool of professionals with the exact skills that organization needs are willing and able to be employed at a moment's notice instead? Are experienced and skilled professionals willing to start at the bottom of the chain?

If an organization hires only candidates who are trained experts for the position, how long will that person stay when they realize there is no opportunity to learn to perform it better or to expand their skills to grow in the position?

Replacing entry level jobs with AI seems to be willfully short sighted and tailored to meet the next quarterly goal.
 
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Peter_Brosdahl said:
The irony is somewhat sickening.

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Laid off King staff are reportedly being replaced by AI tools they helped build | VGC

AI tools are “basically replacing” laid off design teams…
www.videogameschronicle.com www.videogameschronicle.com
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Same way as when consultants are brought in to learn your job then suddenly Abdul (no offense if that is your name) in IDGAFStan, has your job and you're on the street because the company can pay them 1/3rd of your income and they can support a family of howevertheeffmany on that with ease where they live.

Of course this only works until prices creep up in their region because more money is present they they need more money and the process repeats...

Now it's just AI, until power/compute costs catch up with cost of living. IF that ever happens... Currently it's a race to the bottom dollar in service of share holders whom are only interested in short term gains.
 
Why can't we use AI for something useful - like programming traffic lights so I don't have to sit at a red light, with a bunch of other people also sitting at the red light, and absolutely no one is moving at all? Seems like some of that "climate change" money and revolutionary "AI compute" could be useful in figuring out better ways to time traffic lights, or dynamically drive them rather than just a timer, with maybe a sensor if you are lucky.

You don't need fully aware Skynet self driving for that.

Sure, you can go do round-abouts everywhere. We got all kinds of room for that out west here. Good luck tearing out and re-paving every intersection.

Or.. just reprogram the existing light interface. Maybe add some interface device
 
Brian_B said:
Why can't we use AI for something useful - like programming traffic lights so I don't have to sit at a red light, with a bunch of other people also sitting at the red light, and absolutely no one is moving at all? Seems like some of that "climate change" money and revolutionary "AI compute" could be useful in figuring out better ways to time traffic lights, or dynamically drive them rather than just a timer, with maybe a sensor if you are lucky.

You don't need fully aware Skynet self driving for that.

Sure, you can go do round-abouts everywhere. We got all kinds of room for that out west here. Good luck tearing out and re-paving every intersection.

Or.. just reprogram the existing light interface. Maybe add some interface device
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Man that would be sweet, AI driven traffic lights... imagine the metadata they could collect on that.

Yea the drive is faster... but here's your ticket for being on the phone while at a real red light. Here's your ticket for an out of date sticker or bad blinker. Here's your medical bill increase because we detected you drink an abundance of energy drinks while sitting at traffic lights. Oh and we detected that you use an e-sig while driving. Oh and you can't get medical insurance. Oh and here is your increase in insurance costs because of bad driving habits the AI was able to detect.... and on... and on.... and on...

The death by metadata.

Because if you think even for a brief moment that that won't happen... the INSTANT we have constantly monitored by AI cameras at every intersection (or even a subset of them) you are deluding yourself. EVEN IF they put in policy that it isn't allowed to happen... you KNOW they will be teaching AI to gather all of that juicy metadata, so they can simply change the policy on an amendment to a policy to allow tracking of sexual predators that NOBODY would want to vote against... because that's how shady **** is done.
 
Brian_B said:
Why can't we use AI for something useful - like programming traffic lights ...
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Grimlakin said:
Man that would be sweet, AI driven traffic lights... imagine the metadata they could collect on that.
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It already exists. Search "Intelligent Traffic Systems (ITS)" or "Intelligent Traffic Management Systems" and you will be rewarded.

Now the question is, if or when it will be implemented at [insert location]? See your local traffic engineer or municipal planning authority. Chances are they've already established policy on when these systems are to be implemented and the conditions under which they're warranted for implementation (whether as retrofits or as part of a broader community traffic plan).
 
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Grimlakin said:
Because if you think even for a brief moment that that won't happen... the INSTANT we have constantly monitored by AI cameras at every intersection (or even a subset of them) you are deluding yourself.
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Work already put them in all the work trucks. It yells if you raise your hand up - thinking you are yawning and need to pull over. It complains if you have a drink from a can, thinking it's gotta be beer. It complains if you change lanes too aggressively.
 
Grimlakin said:
The death by metadata.
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Already starting to see some of the blow black from license plate readers tracking cars, and the loose legal requirements on obtaining that metadata. One side saying there's a right to privacy and data like this should only be obtainable with a warrant, and the other side saying your license plate, and even looking inside your car windows, are open and vidible to the public and public data.

It will be interesting to follow how that plays out legally, because I think the distopia you describe is going to be heavily influenced by that.
 
Brian_B said:
Already starting to see some of the blow black from license plate readers tracking cars, and the loose legal requirements on obtaining that metadata. One side saying there's a right to privacy and data like this should only be obtainable with a warrant, and the other side saying your license plate, and even looking inside your car windows, are open and vidible to the public and public data.

It will be interesting to follow how that plays out legally, because I think the distopia you describe is going to be heavily influenced by that.
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You can count on whatever legal protections that are enforced today will be de toothed in a short period of time and it will be worse.

Get your tinted windows, and ir flash tech to disable cameras pointed at your car.
 
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