Alorica, a customer-service giant based in Irvine, California, has introduced an AI-powered translation tool that allows its representatives to communicate with customers in 200 languages and 75 dialects. This innovation enables, for instance, a Spanish-speaking representative to assist a Cantonese-speaking customer in Hong Kong, eliminating the need for language-specific hires.
This advancement highlights AI's potential to revolutionize customer service by enhancing communication and efficiency. However, unlike the common fear that AI will lead to massive job cuts, Alorica continues to hire aggressively, demonstrating that AI can complement, rather than replace, human workers.
The experiences of Alorica and other companies, such as IKEA, suggest that AI may not be the job killer many fear. Instead, it could follow the historical pattern of technological advancements like the steam engine and the internet—disrupting some jobs while creating new opportunities and improving productivity.
Nick Bunker, an economist at Indeed Hiring Lab, argues that while AI will impact many jobs, it is unlikely to cause mass unemployment. Historical precedents show that technology often leads to the creation of new roles as companies become more efficient and industries evolve.
Alorica’s use of AI exemplifies this trend. At its call centers, AI tools have significantly reduced the time needed to resolve customer issues, making workers more productive without cutting jobs. For instance, one Alorica center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, saw a reduction in average call-handling time from 14 minutes to just over seven minutes, thanks to AI assistance. This allowed representatives to handle more calls each hour, increasing overall productivity.
While the fear of AI-driven job losses isn’t unfounded—especially given examples like the Indian company Dukaan, which replaced 90% of its support staff with a chatbot—such cases are not yet widespread. In fact, studies have shown that AI can enhance the productivity of even the least-experienced workers, enabling them to handle tasks more efficiently.
The White House Council of Economic Advisers recently noted that there is "little evidence that AI will negatively impact overall employment." Instead, they highlighted how technology tends to boost economic growth and create new job categories, as seen with the rise of roles that didn’t exist decades ago.
For now, AI is proving to be more of a tool for enhancing human capabilities than a wholesale replacement for them. As companies like Alorica continue to invest in AI, the technology may well usher in a new era of productivity and job creation, rather than widespread job loss.
