Klarna no longer hires people because AI is better at tasks. But what suits one may not suit the other. Take Holiverse, for example — the story with artificial intelligence there has turned out completely differently.
Klarna makes shopping easier and more convenient. If you used to put off a purchase due to a lack of money, then with this service you can “buy now and pay later”. The company is also known for its love of technology: they are actively implementing AI and automating everything they can. However, because of this, they have refused to hire new employees.
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna, explained the staff reduction as follows: “We are not hiring employees because we realized that simple tasks can be performed by artificial intelligence. For example, data processing, managing customer requests, or even user support. Why would a person spend hours on simple tasks if AI does it in minutes and without errors?”
But if we continue to replace everyone who does simple work with artificial intelligence, then at first it will seem like an ideal solution. But then it can lead to irreversible consequences. To prevent this from happening, first, you need to answer two questions:
- What to do with people in simple jobs who have been replaced by AI? After all, no one will hire them as top managers without proper experience. Simple work is a springboard for career growth. If you remove the junior positions, then how do you get senior managers?
- What are the long-term consequences for society? The economy relies on consumers. If millions of people are left without a job, a chain reaction will begin. Less income, less shopping, less growth for businesses will lead to economic stagnation. Even companies implementing AI may suffer if there is no one to pay for their services.
For now, this is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, transferring simple work to AI can really speed up processes and, for example, make customer service faster and more convenient. But on the other hand, if we take away all this “mediocre” work from juniors who start their career performing simple tasks, they will lose the opportunity to level up to middles and beyond.
Who then will develop, gain experience and solve more complex problems? It turns out that we risk being left without an entire generation of professionals.
Sebastian Siemiatkowski: Replacement does not mean loss
Artificial intelligence already solves a lot of problems, but there is work where a human is still beyond competition. For example, you go to the doctor with strange symptoms. Sure, AI can analyze your data, but it is an experienced doctor who will recognize something unusual and find the right treatment. Or take a kindergarten teacher: no robot can replace the warmth and understanding that a real person gives.
But what about difficult decisions? For example, a company leader decides to cut a department where people he knows work. This requires responsibility, moral principles, and empathy, which goes far beyond algorithms.
However, interest in artificial intelligence is growing, so, concerns about our work are growing as well. According to a 2023 McKinsey & Company report, 12 million Americans will have to change their profession by 2030 due to the rapid development of AI technologies.
The key word here is “replace”. Replace does not mean to lose. You will have to adapt, learn something new, try yourself in other areas. According to Bernard Marr, a world-renowned futurist, advisor, “The future workplace won’t be dominated by AI or humans alone – it will be shaped by those who master the art of combining both. By embracing AI as a tool for enhancement rather than replacement, we can create a future that amplifies human potential rather than diminishes it.”
Let’s take the situation with cashiers, for example. Just ten years ago, people stood in lines for hours to pay a bill or transfer money. Today, these tasks have been easily solved with the help of banking apps and ATMs. It would seem that so many cashiers should have been left unemployed. But they retrained and got employed.
Or another example — print media. When the Internet became the main source of news, thousands of journalists became tense. Because newspapers began to lose their audience, which meant that it was becoming expensive to keep so many specialists. But they also adapted: some began to work in digital media, and others found themselves in content marketing.
Another story is about photographers. With the advent of smartphones, the need for professional photographers should have disappeared. However, they did not go anywhere — they just transformed: some began to offer unique shooting styles, others began to master video production or work in the field of post-production.
Lado Okhotnikov: Replacing juniors with AI is a big mistake
Here’s what Holiverse metaverse founder Lado Okhotnikov thinks about replacing employees with AI, “Juniors are the future of any company. They are the ones who eventually become middles, seniors and those who develop the business. If you take away their ability to learn from routine tasks, then who will make complex decisions, create new products or lead projects?”
If you remove junior specialists, the company may soon face a personnel crisis.
Holiverse is developing a metaverse with human avatars
To understand exactly what Lado Okhotnikov’s Holiverse is doing, we turned to Dr. Chebanov, a researcher at the company, for clarifications.
In an interview on YouTube Dmitry Chebanov explains: “To understand what the company is working on, imagine some John. He is 44 years old, an ordinary office worker. John recently began to notice that something is wrong with his health: insomnia has appeared, he feels constant fatigue, sometimes absent-mindedness appears. He goes to the doctor, hoping to get specific recommendations, but instead he hears general advice…“
Indeed, the situation is familiar to everyone. But this is the principle of traditional medicine, when symptoms are treated “as per protocol”. For example, a doctor may advise “sleep more and be less nervous”. This is a good recommendation, and it works. But what if insomnia is the result of a hormonal imbalance, and fatigue is due to a lack of certain vitamins?
And this is where personalized medicine comes to the rescue.
DNA analysis, biomarkers, data on your lifestyle — all this allows you to create a personalized plan that suits you.
However, one plan is not enough. It takes time to understand whether it works in practice. To shorten this path, Holiverse came up with an innovative way — to create an avatar of a person in the metaverse.
An avatar is a digital copy of a person based on their data, including DNA. Using this avatar you can “test” a personalized program: predict how changes in nutrition, lifestyle, or even therapy will affect the body.
For example, an avatar based on AI algorithms will show how your weight, energy level or emotional state will change on a certain diet. Or how your body will react to a new training regimen. It is a kind of safe “den” where there is no risk to health. This approach saves time, money and, most importantly, helps to achieve real results much faster. This is the essence of personalized medicine of the new generation, where technology and medicine go hand in hand.
But it is important to remember that artificial intelligence is not a replacement for a person, but an assistant. It is people with their creative approach who open new horizons of the metaverse, as Holiverse does, offering innovative solutions that go beyond algorithms.
