India: Company replaced 90% of SAC employees with AI – 07/14/2023 – Tech

The chief executive of a company in India has received a wave of criticism after replacing 90% of its customer service employees with an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot.

Suumit Shah, founder of Dukaan, said on Twitter that replacing employees with a chatbot (a robot that performs customer service) dramatically improved initial responses to customers and the time to resolve their queries.

The tweet caused outrage among many netizens. It comes at a time when there are concerns that AI could put many people out of work, especially in the service sector.

A “necessary” decision

In a series of tweets — which amassed more than a million views — Shah explained his company’s decision to use a chatbot.

He said firing employees was a “difficult” but “necessary” decision.

“Given the state of the economy, startups are prioritizing profitability over trying to become ‘unicorns,’ and so are we,” he wrote.

Shah added that customer support has been an issue for the company for a long time and he is trying to fix it.

He also wrote about how they built the bot and AI platform in a short amount of time so that every Dukaan customer could have a virtual assistant.

He stated that the bot answers all types of questions quickly and accurately.

“In the age of instant gratification, starting a business is no longer a distant dream,” he wrote, adding, “With the right idea, the right team, anyone can turn their entrepreneurial dreams into reality.”

Shah also indicated that the company is hiring for multiple positions.

However, many users criticized his posts and accused him of damaging his employees’ lives with his “ruthless” decision.

the reviews

“As expected, I found no mention of the fact that 90% of employees were laid off. What assistance did they receive?” asked one user.

“Maybe it was the right decision for the business, but it shouldn’t have become a celebration/marketing topic,” said another.

Shah said he will detail the measures to support employees through LinkedIn, as, he said, people on Twitter would be looking for “profitability, not sympathy.”

In recent years, generative AI tools like ChatGPT have proliferated and become more accessible.

As more organizations use these tools to increase productivity and reduce costs, concerns grow from people who fear losing their jobs to technology.

Goldman Sachs published a report in March indicating that artificial intelligence could replace around 300 million full-time jobs.

In India, several companies are investing in AI to develop products, which has raised fears of possible job losses.

This text was originally published here.