The dystopian and disturbing thought of artificial intelligence taking our jobs may have become the reality for around 10,000 employees at one of world's biggest software companies recently.
Although AI can be useful in some aspects, whether it be helping to identify medical issues that the human eye cannot spot or simply giving us an answer to a simple history question, there is understandably a huge amount of negativity associated with the technology among workers.
It's long been suggested that as AI becomes more intelligent, it's only a matter of time before they eventually replace us, and we're already seeing that in both the workplace and the home, with Microsoft previously identifying some of the jobs that were most at risk of being taken over.
Oracle, which was founded by one of the world's richest men Larry Ellison, made 'significant' job cuts across five roles earlier this week, with senior engineers, architects, operations leaders, program managers, and technical specialists all affected.
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On LinkedIn, senior manager Michael Shepherd, whose job was unaffected, wrote: "Today, Oracle conducted a significant reduction in force that impacted some of the most talented, dedicated, and high-performing people I’ve had the privilege of working alongside.
"Let me be direct: this was not a performance action. The individuals affected were not let go because of anything they did or didn’t do. Many of them are the people you call when something is truly broken, the ones who show up early, stay late, and carry institutional knowledge that took years to build.
"To my colleagues who were impacted today — your worth is not defined by this moment. Your skills, your experience, and your reputation speak for themselves. This is a chapter ending, not your story."
However, his words will mean little to those who have been at the company for more than a decade, with it heavily rumoured that the decision came after AI tools allowed fewer workers to do more work.
Oracle follows in the footsteps of other tech companies including Amazon, Pinterest and Epic Games to make the significant cuts, although none have been officially blamed on the introduction of AI.
The decision of the US company somewhat contradicts some thoughts from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who argued that humans need just one thing if they want to avoid being replaced by the technology; a creative spark.
He said: "Put me in front of a whiteboard and I can generate a hundred ideas in half an hour.
“I don’t see how anybody can be discouraged who is alive.
"[AI will make every business’] quality go up and their productivity go up. Every manufacturing company, every hotel, every consumer products company. That’s hard to fathom, but it’s real.
“There’s never been a better time to be excited about the future", he concluded.
It's perhaps safe to assume that former Oracle workers aren't all that excited about the future of AI, even if it's not been officially confirmed that that is why they lost their jobs.
Oracle declined to comment when approached by LADbible.
Topics: AI, Artificial Intelligence, Technology
James Moorhouse