Microsoft sacks journalists, replaces them with AI software

Team Udayavani, May 31, 2020, 3:22 PM IST

Many journalists have been sacked after Microsoft decides to replace them with AI. The Journalists maintain the news homepages on Microsoft’s MSN website and the homepage on the Edge browser.

Sources claim, 27 journalists employed by PA Media, earlier known as the Press Association, were told on Thursday that they would be losing their jobs in a month’s time after Microsoft took the decision to stop using humans to select, curate and edit news articles on the MSN and Edge homepages.

One of the spokesperson of Microsoft said, “Like all companies, we evaluate our business on a regular basis. This can result in increased investment in some places and, from time to time, re-deployment in others. These decisions are not the result of the current pandemic”

Employees were told Microsoft’s decision to end the contract with PA Media was taken at short notice as part of a global shift away from humans in favour of automated updates for news.