Musk’s DOGE has started rolling out AI Chatbot to General Services Administration (GSA) Employees. General Services Administration (GSA) manages government real estate and certain IT efforts. The chatbot would help the employees with their daily tasks by automating them. An internal memo was given to the employees to let them know which tasks they could automate.
The Chatbot, GSAi, gives users 3 models to work with and the main idea is to use it to analyze contracts and procurement data. It should be remembered that GSA is one of the many agencies that faced job cuts. Reportedly, around 100 workers were affected due to what they call proper sizing.
The AI vs Workers battle
There has been this notion that AI will eventually replace human workers. Such layoffs always add more fuel to such predictions. While AI is improving rapidly, it is still nowhere near human intelligence. However, AI has proven more proficient in tasks like data entry, as automated systems can process data faster than humans. Similarly, with customer support and FAQ lists, AI Chatbot can do a better job. Similarly, Robotic automation, basic content writing, and accounting are other examples where AI outshines.
AI creating Jobs?
The counterargument is that while AI is replacing human workers in some capacities, AI also creates jobs. For example, AI development/engineering has seen more demand for people with the required skill set. Similarly, on the Data side, Prompt engineers and AI-assisted content Creators are some of the skill sets that are very hot in the market due to AI development. From this analysis, it is clear that humans must do more technical jobs and leave the simple, repetitive tasks to AI. Now, it remains to be seen if humans can step up the ladder and fill the more technical roles in more significant numbers.
DOGE is a villain
Elon Musk’s DOGE has come under heavy criticism from companies. DOGE stands for Department Of Government Efficiency. DOGE has been involved with the government to cut costs by replacing workers with AI cost-effectively. There have been lawsuits against DOGE’s actions, and while some were successful, others were not so fortunate. Federal Government contractors are wary of DOGE and have been outspoken about it. It is their livelihood that is under threat.
Even some businesses that are not directly affected have raised concerns that if their relevant Government department employees are reduced, it could slow down their business as well. For example, drugmakers want to ensure that the Government has enough staff so that their drug approval process is not affected.
