More likely they are just saying this to get in the headlines as a "Look IBM is AI too" story.
IBM to pause hiring in plan to replace 7,800 jobs with AI
51–60 of 223 posts
Re: IBM to pause hiring in plan to replace 7,800 jobs with AI
#52IBM as a company barely makes sense at all at this point. They are a very large and a former tech company that mostly coasts along on doing expensive consulting projects around me-too clones of things that other people have invented just so they can still pretend to be a tech company. So you can do things with AI, cloud, and databases with them. But they aren't really leaders in any of that for a long time. And havin…
You have no idea what you are talking about. IBM does more cutting edge research than the entire HN bubble combined. Hard research like materials science and semiconductors. Consulting is less than a third of their revenue and regardless of how you feel about consulting, it seems kind of idiotic to claim that this "barely makes sense at all at this point". Are the only companies that make sense the ones that work on…
I think the true thing is that IBM has ceased to be a leader in Computer Science. They used to be! But they gave that up long ago, and have resorted to various publicity stunts (e.g., remember Jeopardy?). But sure, they may be a leader in materials and semiconductors (though honestly I have no idea, that's not my space).
Re: IBM to pause hiring in plan to replace 7,800 jobs with AI
#53IBM as a company barely makes sense at all at this point. They are a very large and a former tech company that mostly coasts along on doing expensive consulting projects around me-too clones of things that other people have invented just so they can still pretend to be a tech company. So you can do things with AI, cloud, and databases with them. But they aren't really leaders in any of that for a long time. And havin…
You have no idea what you are talking about. IBM does more cutting edge research than the entire HN bubble combined. Hard research like materials science and semiconductors. Consulting is less than a third of their revenue and regardless of how you feel about consulting, it seems kind of idiotic to claim that this "barely makes sense at all at this point". Are the only companies that make sense the ones that work on…
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Re: IBM to pause hiring in plan to replace 7,800 jobs with AI
#54IBM as a company barely makes sense at all at this point. They are a very large and a former tech company that mostly coasts along on doing expensive consulting projects around me-too clones of things that other people have invented just so they can still pretend to be a tech company. So you can do things with AI, cloud, and databases with them. But they aren't really leaders in any of that for a long time. And havin…
IBM is a bunch of businesses, some of which still likely make sense -- their mainframe hardware line (S/360 successors, currently branded as z/System), and associated products, are still actively developed, and very likely profitable, considered on their own. But that may not be enough to carry the rest of the business.
Re: IBM to pause hiring in plan to replace 7,800 jobs with AI
#55IBM as a company barely makes sense at all at this point. They are a very large and a former tech company that mostly coasts along on doing expensive consulting projects around me-too clones of things that other people have invented just so they can still pretend to be a tech company. So you can do things with AI, cloud, and databases with them. But they aren't really leaders in any of that for a long time. And havin…
You have no idea what you are talking about. IBM does more cutting edge research than the entire HN bubble combined. Hard research like materials science and semiconductors. Consulting is less than a third of their revenue and regardless of how you feel about consulting, it seems kind of idiotic to claim that this "barely makes sense at all at this point". Are the only companies that make sense the ones that work on…
They have seemingly 1000 products so it's definitely not fair to apply experiences with one of those, to all of the others.
That said, I've hated the handful of IBM software products I've needed to use.
Another anecdote: I've never met a fellow developer that spoke highly of IBM. That includes the folks who used to work there.
I think it's remarkable how rare it is to meet someone that speaks highly of the company. Companies don't usually achieve such reputation without reason.
Re: IBM to pause hiring in plan to replace 7,800 jobs with AI
#56My experience is that there are lots of BS consulting jobs where I would wonder “what do these 10 people do?” This included lots of offshoring companies, like IBM, that seemed more about filling out whatever the budget sheet given to them than actually making software or even any evidence of software (commits, issues, etc). I expect that there are firms out there right now using ChatGPT to produce the facade of work…
Consulting jobs are largely bullshit because their main role is to be a corporate mercenary that makes up solid data supporting the direction that management wants to go. Their job is weaponizing confirmation bias. Relevant: https://twitter.com/ConsultingHumor
That's Management Consulting. Tech consulting is building expensive boondoggles.
Re: IBM to pause hiring in plan to replace 7,800 jobs with AI
#57>Krishna said in an interview he believes around 30% of about 26,000 non-customer-facing positions, like human resources jobs, could be replaced by AI over a five-year period—amounting to about 7,800 lost jobs. HR duties like documenting employee moves to different departments and writing employment verification letters will likely be among the first rolled over to AI, Krishna told Bloomberg. Jobs focused on interact…
The names tasks are already automated without AI.
Who need a generative LLM text to print a receipt?
Re: IBM to pause hiring in plan to replace 7,800 jobs with AI
#58>Krishna said in an interview he believes around 30% of about 26,000 non-customer-facing positions, like human resources jobs, could be replaced by AI over a five-year period—amounting to about 7,800 lost jobs. HR duties like documenting employee moves to different departments and writing employment verification letters will likely be among the first rolled over to AI, Krishna told Bloomberg. Jobs focused on interact…
The names tasks are already automated without AI. Who need a generative LLM text to print a receipt ?
Starkly reminiscent of blockchain. Many "blockchain problems" were really just software problems. Coincidentally, IBM also went all-in on blockchain before quietly abandoning it sometime last year.
IBM seems to be run by very gullible people.
Re: IBM to pause hiring in plan to replace 7,800 jobs with AI
#59nice way to try and pump your stock price. similar to that google guy who left because Google's AI is about to become a sentient, nice little boost to the retirement fund.
He said he left because it's dangerous, not sentient.
Re: IBM to pause hiring in plan to replace 7,800 jobs with AI
#60IBM is still alive? Hunh. You learn something new every day.