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AI Reshapes Work and Campaigns as Tech Layoffs Hit Coders and Studies Show Chatbot Sway

New evidence of AI’s real-world impacts is accelerating calls for retraining alongside electoral safeguards.

Overview

  • Major tech firms including HP, Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, Salesforce, Klarna and Just Eat cited automation in thousands of job cuts this year, with HP announcing a 10% reduction and junior programmer hiring slowing as AI-generated code takes a larger role.
  • A new Instituto VRAIN analysis finds 18% to 22% of Spanish employment exposed to AI, with exposure above 21.5% in Madrid and Barcelona and women 1.3 to 3 points more exposed than men.
  • Peer-reviewed studies in Nature and Science report that reasoning chatbots altered voter preferences during live campaigns in the United States, Canada, Poland and the United Kingdom, intensifying demands for EU-focused democratic protections.
  • Education and training are ramping up, as Argentina’s UNR adds a first-year seminar on responsible AI use and institutions roll out short courses for non-programmers to apply automation tools effectively.
  • Reports note both gains and risks, citing hospital automation in Zhengzhou and concerns over privacy, bias and resource use, with international bodies estimating roughly 40% of Latin American jobs could be transformed.