BT Group’s Harmeen Mehta under fire for comparing AI job loss to cars replacing horses

Harmeen Mehta's remarks comparing humans to horses have stirred up controversy

BT Group’s technology chief, Harmeen Mehta, has come under fire for suggesting that employees must accept they will be replaced by AI, because horses did not complain when the car was invented.

In an interview with Raconteur, Mehta said: “I don’t know how horses felt when the car was invented, but they didn’t complain that they were put out of a job; they didn’t go on strike.

“It’s part of evolution. Some jobs will change, some new ones will be created and some will no longer be needed,” the Chief Digital and Innovation Officer of British telecommunications company BT added.

Mehta said that instead of fighting against AI, workers should reinvent and reskill themselves to ensure they stay relevant in a changing job market. “Every job that exists today won’t exist in exactly the same form in the future,” she argued. “The people who reskill themselves will have jobs, at this company or another, while those who don’t might not. That is simply part of the evolution of society.”

However, Mehta’s analogy comparing AI job losses to cars and horses found few takers. “Clearly, equating ‘beasts of burden’ with human workers is wrong,” Anna Thomas, director and co-founder of the Institute for the Future of Work thinktank, told The Guardian. “Yes, the adoption of new technologies has always brought about changes and transitions to new jobs. But our research offers strong evidence that engaging worker expertise through the process of AI adoption supports net job gains and improvements in job quality.”

“The right to strike has been a hard-won human right that should not be denigrated by people in positions of corporate seniority. Nor should the intelligence of workers, who just want a serious discussion on AI that respects their concerns and ensures there is reasonable protection for them,” a spokesperson for the Communication Workers Union said.

“Of course some jobs will be become obsolete and others will be created, but responsibility must be the watchword in the implementation of new jobs and technology.”

'Smarter than the smartest human'

Harmeen Mehta’s remarks come amid rising concerns about AI replacing humans, leading to wider unemployment across the world.

In fact, it was predicted in May that BT, Britain's biggest broadband and mobile provider, will cut up to 55,000 jobs by 2030 - potentially over 40% of its workforce - as it completes its fibre roll-out and adapts to new technologies such as AI, as per Reuters.

More recently at the Artificial Intelligence Safety Summit held at Bletchley Park, UK, Elon Musk said human labour will become obsolete with the rise of AI. “We are seeing the most disruptive force in history here – something for the first time that is smarter than the smartest human… There will come a point where no job is needed,” he said.

A spokesperson for BT Group said Mehta was “using a metaphor to stretch a point,” adding: “In the past, during periods of technological change, people acquired new skills and ultimately new jobs were created. This is something we are keen to enable as we embrace human and artificial intelligence working alongside each other.”