Job losses due to AI are a good thing because people hate their jobs anyway, says Aravind Srinivas, CEO of AI startup Perplexity.
Aravind Srinivas, the Indian-origin CEO of Perplexity AI, was caught in a major controversy after he defended layoffs due to AI and said that people don’t like their jobs anyway.
In a podcast, Srinivas, who studied at IIT-Madras and then did his PhD at UC Berkeley, said job losses will open many new doors giving people new opportunities where they can do what they love. “The truth is that most people don’t enjoy their jobs. There’s suddenly a new possibility… to use these tools, learn them, start your own little business… Even if there’s a temporary displacement of jobs to deal with, that kind of glorious future is what we have to look forward to,” Srinivas said, making layoffs seem desirable. The comment was heavily criticized as social media users called for his deportation. This comment gained significance when Oracle laid off 30,000 people worldwide, and people lamented on social media about how they were blindsided, informed via an email at 6 a.m. that March 31 was their last day of work after having worked at Oracle for decades.
“A man worth millions told a single mother who lost her job that she should be grateful that she can now start a business using his product and described her unemployment as a glorious future,” one X commenter wrote.
“This is what happens when you never need a paycheck to keep the lights on.”He reacted with bewilderment to the controversy and the spokesperson cited statements from the New York Post defending what Srinivas had said. “Since Perplexity launched in December 2022, Americans have filed 16 million new job applications, reversing a 40-year decline and proving once again that advanced technologies don’t destroy opportunities, they create them,” the spokesperson said. “When you’re at the top of building AI, disruption looks like opportunity. For millions of workers facing real uncertainty, the view from the ground is very different. Are these artificial technology leaders — who speculate about a great future for humans while disconnected from day-to-day influences — out of touch with reality? Or are they seeing something others haven’t yet encountered?” one wrote.
