Microsoft replaced journalists with robots

Microsoft has decided to dismiss dozens of journalists involved in filling news sources on the MSN website-they will be replaced by artificial intelligence. At the same time, the company claims that this step is not related to the prevalence of coronaviruses and the reduction of revenue. But to optimize the workflow.

According to The Verge portal, dozens of journalists and editors who participated in filling news feeds were fired by Microsoft. They will be replaced by artificial intelligence, which will perform the same work.

According to the portal, the layoffs affected at least 50 workers from the United States and 27 British workers. These people search for news displayed in MSN, Microsoft Edge browser. And several Microsoft News news applications.

According to Microsoft’s news service, layoffs and the use of artificial intelligence are not intended to reduce the cost of pandemics.

Like all companies, we are constantly evaluating our business. This may lead to an increase in investment in some sectors while reallocating resources in others. The company said in a statement that this decision was not the result of a pandemic.

According to the Guardian, the sacked employees were told that they did not need service because the robot could do the job. As part of the workflow automation process, it was decided to terminate the contract with the employee within a short time.

The source said: “I read a lot of information about how artificial intelligence will replace all of us, the here-the robot takes my job.”

According to him, the decision to use AI to select news carries certain risks because the team adheres to a “very strict editorial policy”, including rejecting cruel or inappropriate content. Which may cause harm to many users. How artificial intelligence responds to this task is still unknown.

According to reports, the downsizing employees did not create materials themselves but engaged in the selection of news published by agents and portals. And changed the titles and contents of the materials to conform to recognized formats. The message then appeared on the Microsoft website, which shared advertising revenue with the original source.

Since establishing the MSN website in 1995, Microsoft has been in this business for 25 years. About two years ago, the Microsoft News aggregator was born. Then, the company proudly announced that “more than 800 editors from 50 countries/regions of the world” are working on the project.

According to reports, in the past few months, Microsoft has relied on the use of artificial intelligence to motivate its employees to use artificial intelligence in various fields.

Therefore, Microsoft uses AI to quickly scan news and automatically filter and select illustrations.

Although the company denies the impact of the pandemic replacing dozens of employees with robots, it is well known that as the spread of the coronavirus began, advertising revenue on media, television, newspapers, and Internet sites worldwide declined.