Overview

• Siemiatkowski told The Times Tech podcast that replacing white-collar jobs with AI usually leads to at least a short-term recession and that he sees no way to avoid it
• Klarna’s AI assistant has taken on the equivalent workload of 700 full-time customer service agents, helping cut its headcount from 5,500 to 3,000 since 2023
• Facing service quality complaints, the company began recruiting human agents last month under a flexible, remote support model
• Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has warned that AI may eliminate half of entry-level white-collar positions within the next five years
• Tech leaders remain divided on AI’s economic impact, with some like Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis arguing the technology will create new roles requiring creativity and adaptability