REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — An Indian CEO has come under fire after his company replaced 90% of its support staff with chatbots artificial intelligence (AI).

Suumit Shah, founder of Dukaan, states in Twitter, chatbots improve response time and prompt handling of first-stage customer issues. Tweets This sparked the anger of netizens. Because it happened amid fears that many jobs would be replaced by AI.

In a series tweet, which has been viewed more than a million times, wrote Shah, while laying off staff was a difficult decision, it was necessary. “Given the state of the economy, startups prioritize profitability over the difficulty of being unicorns. So are we,” he wrote. BBCWednesday (12/7/2023).

He added that customer support has long been a crutch for the company. He also writes about how they build bots and platforms AI in a short time so that all Dukaan customers can have their own AI assistant.

He said the bot answered all kinds of questions quickly and accurately. “In the age of instant gratification, starting a business is no longer a distant dream. With the right idea, the right team, anyone can turn their business dreams into reality.”

Shah also added that the company is recruiting people for various positions. However, netizens criticized him and accused him of ruining the lives of his staff with heartless decisions.

“It might be the right move for the company, but it shouldn’t turn into a celebratory/marketing thing about it,” another said.

Shah replies a tweet who said “as expected, someone will be offended on behalf of others” and added that he would post information on LinkedIn about helping his staff, because in Twitterpeople are looking for profitability and not sympathy.

In recent years, generative AI tools like ChatGPT have proliferated and become more accessible. There have been reports of organizations using this tool to increase productivity while reducing costs. This makes workers afraid of losing their jobs because of technology.

In March, Goldman Sachs released a report showing that AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs. In India, several companies are investing in AI to develop products, raising fears of job losses.