AI Markets

Artificial intelligence is increasingly being trusted to help employers screen CVs, rank candidates and even conduct early-stage interviews. The promise is simple: AI can process thousands of applications quickly, reduce administrative workloads and, in theory, make hiring decisions more objective than humans. According to a recent review by MIT Technology, based on the 2024 study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology titled “Costly Exploration Produces Stereotypes With Dimensions of Warmth and Competence”, large language models (LLMs) may not only inherit human biases from the data they are trained on but also develop entirely new stereotypes based on their own experiences. Rather than simply reflecting existing prejudice, these systems can create fresh patterns of discrimination as they attempt to optimise decision-making over time.The findings are particularly significant because businesses are rapidly integrating AI into recruitment. If these systems begin making assumptions about groups of applicants after only a handful of hiring decisions, they could gradually reinforce unfair employment practices without any explicit human instruction.The research, conducted by scientists at Princeton University and the University of Chicago, builds on earlier psychological work showing how stereotypes can emerge from repeated decision-making. It suggests that the same learning strategies that make AI effective at solving complex problems can also make it unusually prone to stereotyping job candidates.

“The adoption and deployment of AI technologies across our operations have resulted, and may continue to result, in reductions to our workforce,” Oracle said Monday in an annual financial regulatory filing.

The company’s global headcount shrank to 141,000 full-time employees as of the May 31 end of the fiscal year, compared with 162,000 a year earlier, Oracle said. The reductions led to about $1.8 billion in restructuring costs.

Oracle is under financial pressure because of an expensive build-out of AI data centers for customers like OpenAI. Earlier this year, it began cutting thousands of jobs as part of efforts to save cash, Bloomberg has reported. The exact scope of the cuts was never formally disclosed.

As of the end of May, the company had about 49,000 US workers while about 92,000 were employed internationally.

General Motors has replaced roughly 1,000 workers with just 50 robots at its flagship Detroit-area manufacturing facility, sparking backlash from labor unions and reigniting concerns about automation’s growing impact on American jobs.

The move comes as the auto giant looks to cut costs and improve efficiency amid slowing demand for electric vehicles and increasing pressure to remain competitive in a rapidly changing industry.

According to reports, the new “collaborative robots,” commonly known as cobots, have been installed on the assembly line at GM’s Factory ZERO plant in Michigan, where they now assist with attaching body panels to vehicles as they move through production.