AWS CEO to CEOs 'screaming' AI will wipe away jobs: I don't think that's all true

Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Matt Garman has pushed back heavily against fellow tech executives who warn that artificial intelligence (AI) is going to trigger a Great Depression-style wave of mass unemployment.

Instead, he said that there will be different kinds of jobs, and that workers will have to adapt and even learn new skills.Addressing the growing anxiety sweeping the corporate and tech worlds, Garman made it clear that he refuses to join the camp of critics predicting an economic doomsday.“Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but I don't think that that's at all true,” Garman said when asked about tech leaders forecasting catastrophic job losses. “I think it has the potential to create massive value. And I think there's going to be new and different types of jobs. People are going to have to adjust, learn different skills, And embrace it, but yes, I'm not in that camp,” he said in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal.

The shift for software engineers

The anxiety around automation has hit software developers hard, as advanced AI coding tools have proven they can write complex lines of script in seconds.

Garman addressed this concern directly, warning that while the nature of tech jobs is changing, the demand for human talent remains incredibly high.“If the skill set that you really hang on to is your ability to write a good line of Java code... that probably is going to be a less valuable skill going forward,” the AWS chief explained.However, he emphasised that this doesn't mean developers are obsolete, explaining, “We are going to need tons and tons of software developers who know how to build systems, who know how to think about solving problems for customers.”When asked that companies are already using AI to accomplish tasks faster with fewer human hands, Garman offered a different perspective on productivity. He explained that while it is true that you might need fewer people to complete a single repetitive task, that efficiency frees up human capital to work on entirely new initiatives that companies previously didn’t have the time or resources to tackle.“I understand that nervousness. But we view it as: you do need fewer people to accomplish the same task, but you can do more things,” Garman admitted.