"LLMs are slowly putting pressure on the labor market." Is AI replacing workers and what is known about the layoffs of technical specialists who are being replaced by AI tools

What does world experience say?

The first swallow, so to speak, flew last summer. Then, the CEO of the Indian company Duukan, Sumit Shah, laid off almost 90% of the support team, replacing them with an artificial intelligence chatbot like ChatGPT. According to him, work based on copy and paste of text is becoming a thing of the past thanks to artificial intelligence.

The following bells rang quickly:

• In the first months of this year, about 34,000 employees lost their jobs at technology companies, including Microsoft, eBay and PayPal .
• Back in February, Meta (Facebook) CEO Mark Zuckerberg, commenting on the massive layoffs announced in early 2024, said they had an AI twist. However, there was no mention of replacement, as he went on to note that this was mostly due to reorganization and investments in artificial intelligence.
• Dell «slimmed down» in August, consolidating its sales departments into a new AI Select Sales team. Over the past year, the company has seen a resurgence in investor interest thanks to its powerful servers that can handle AI workloads. Now, it has cut managers and senior executives as part of a «modernization» effort.
• And in October, TikTok laid off at least 500 people after relying on artificial intelligence tools to moderate content. A company spokesperson said at the time that TikTok planned to invest $2 billion this year in trust and safety globally and continue to improve efficiency, as 80% of content that violates the rules is now removed using automated technology.

From public to private

In modern Ukrainian realities, spot reports began to appear that artificial intelligence is already taking away jobs from specialists. About three weeks ago, SMM manager Maria Chorman admitted that AI had deprived her of her job. According to her, she was always skeptical about all the scare stories in the style of everyone being fired, replacing AI. However, this is exactly what happened to the girl recently. As Maria reported, she and her manager decided not to continue cooperation, because, as it turned out, artificial intelligence can also do her duties.

View from the inside

dev.ua decided to find out about cases where IT specialists were fired and replaced with artificial intelligence tools. Among the almost 65 recruiters we interviewed, about 70% responded, but only one specialist, HR BP at MeGaDev OU Iryna Chesnokova, confirmed that copywriters were partially replaced in their previous company. «But of course, no one told them that they would be replaced by AI, they were simply told that we were cutting budgets (which was true) and had to say goodbye to them for now,» she added.

Tech recruiter Anatoliy doesn’t know of any people who have been laid off and replaced by AI. However, he is confident that artificial intelligence can replace humans if given a clear task.

Some experts consider it important to highlight such a topical topic, even if in their practice there have been no cases of direct replacement of specialists with AI. IT recruiter Alena Vakulenko also shared her vision of the situation.

«In my opinion, we are currently observing not so much the replacement of AI specialists as the transformation of roles and responsibilities. AI is a powerful tool that allows you to automate routine tasks and increase work efficiency. This allows specialists to focus on more complex, creative and strategic tasks, reducing the time spent on routine and operational tasks,» said Alena.

According to her, successful specialists today are those who know how to effectively use AI as a tool in their work, rather than competing with it. However, the specialist also notes that it is important to understand that AI has its limitations and cannot completely replace human expertise, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence. «Therefore, it still works under human control,» she adds.

Tech recruiter Taras Popovych also has not encountered cases where IT specialists were fired to be replaced with artificial intelligence tools.

However, as Taras noted, some companies are replacing entry-level technical support with chatbots or AI assistants, which allows them to reduce the number of first-line operators. And he, like Alyona, believes that this actually usually leads to changes in roles, rather than outright dismissal (for example, moving between different levels of support).

«Some of the simpler coding tasks are being automated thanks to tools like Copilot or ChatGPT, but again, it’s more of an aid than a replacement. In my opinion, the complex processes, like those that require critical thinking or creativity, will remain for people to do,» he explains.

Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist at Deloitte Artem Nikityuk shared that he knows of cases where AI has helped to make work easier and eliminate routine in his field. «I haven’t met anyone who has been fully replaced by AI, it hasn’t even replaced copywriters, because they don’t write like copywriters, the human factor is very important,» he adds.

What should employees do?

Marketing expert Yulia Kleban agrees with the statement that, for example, a copywriter can easily be replaced by ChatGPT. However, according to her, this only works according to clearly established terms of reference. Yulia emphasized that an AI chatbot can read text better than a person, compile a synopsis, quickly write according to templates, shorten copy, and select terminology. However, the specialist emphasizes that only a person is capable of:

• generation of creative ideas that fit your brand in the current context,
• observing and monitoring trends in the world and turning them into information drives for content,
• deep dive into the audience’s pain points and needs and highlight the most important reasons-to-believe for communication,
• games with pop culture, memes, allusions and Easter eggs,
• intuitive work with the brand’s Tone of Voice not only at the level of words, but also at the level of ideas and strategy.

But not everything is so clear with the replacement of human labor with AI content. In particular, texts, videos and images, as it turned out, are quite easy to distinguish from what was created by a person. In addition, there are characteristic mistakes that artificial intelligence makes. We have already examined this topic in detail. Summarizing what has been said, it is clear that AI by itself is very difficult to replace a person. But to become a «friend, comrade and brother» is quite possible.

Instead of a conclusion

The vast majority of developers and software professionals are using artificial intelligence tools. Both professionals and organizations are confident that the technology should significantly improve the efficiency of their work. This is confirmed by data from a Capgemini study conducted this summer.

However, companies implementing GenAI are mostly not inclined to lay off employees. Employers are more likely to think about optimizing the workflow and using the resources thus freed up from employees for new developments or improving the skills of employees.

The impact of generative artificial intelligence on coding efficiency and quality, says Pierre-Yves Glever, Head of Global Cloud and Special Programs at Capgemini, can be measured and confirmed.

Full Stack Developer Serhiy Kulakov, when he learned about the intentions of a dev.ua journalist to write an article about dismissals due to AI, said that there would be no article. «LLMs are exerting slow pressure on the labor market, which is manifested not in the fact that a person was fired, but in the fact that hiring was reduced. Up to a certain threshold of LLM development, this is exactly what will happen,» he explained his words.

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