TikTok axes 500 jobs in Malaysia, embraces AI for global content moderation

TikTok axes 500 jobs in Malaysia, embraces AI for global content moderation

What you need to know

  • TikTok is reportedly laying off 500 employees from its workforce in Malaysia.
  • The company plans to automate its content moderation process using AI and roll out the change globally.
  • Generative AI affects significant sectors, including software development, banking, and the built environment.

As an observer with decades of experience in the tech industry, I find myself both awestruck and concerned by the rapid advancement of generative AI. The recent news of TikTok laying off employees to make way for AI-powered content moderation is a stark reminder that the digital revolution isn’t slowing down anytime soon.


TikTok, owned by ByteDance, has let go of up to 700 workers, primarily from its Malaysian branches. Rather than following the trend of large-scale layoffs seen in tech giants like Microsoft during challenging economic periods, TikTok intends to hire generative AI as a replacement for the terminated employees.

The rapid progression of generative AI continues to be a menace for professionals across organizations, potentially rubbishing the false sense of job security. The affected employees’ roles were centered on content moderation, ensuring clips published on the viral platform adhere to community guidelines.

ByteDance asserts that their AI technology successfully identifies and removes content that breaches TikTok’s community standards about 80% of the time. This suggests a growing preference for automating content moderation tasks with AI, aiming to speed up processes and enhance efficiency.

As a tech enthusiast, I recently learned from my sources that the initial assumption of 700 employees being affected by the job cuts at TikTok was incorrect; in reality, it’s less than 500. However, it appears that this restructuring may not be limited to just our current region, as the company plans to expand its content moderation process using AI, potentially impacting more employees across various countries.

Is AI a fad or will humans lose their jobs to the cutting-edge technology?

TikTok axes 500 jobs in Malaysia, embraces AI for global content moderation

As per Microsoft’s recent Work Trend Index findings, many business leaders are now prioritizing the hiring of individuals with expertise in Artificial Intelligence (AI), as demonstrated by a 142-fold rise in LinkedIn users listing AI skills such as Copilot and ChatGPT on their profiles. Interestingly, this report also indicates that AI technology could potentially create new job opportunities, contradicting common concerns that it might lead to job loss for professionals. However, executives have expressed worry about the scarcity of skilled talent capable of filling the numerous vacancies within their organizations.

In a separate report, image generation tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot are getting exceptionally good at creating structural designs, posing a great danger to the future of professionals in the built environment. Interestingly, the AI tools can’t make simple, plain white creations.

In the world of banking, AI is making its mark and leaving no opportunity unexplored. Based on recent research, over half of all banking roles (approximately 54%) show a strong potential for automation, while around 12% could see enhancements through the use of AI.

Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon Web Services, predicts a rapid integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within businesses, which may lead software developers to transition away from traditional coding tasks and instead focus on acquiring necessary AI skills to stay competitive. In other words, as AI becomes more prevalent, developers might need to reskill themselves to keep up with the latest advancements in this field.

In approximately two years from today, there might be a situation where many developers aren’t actively writing code.

Jensen Huang, NVIDIA’s CEO, expressed views similar to this earlier in the year. He suggests that coding might not be the best career choice for future generations. Instead, he advises young people to consider other fields like biology, education, manufacturing, or agriculture, as potential career paths.

It’s intriguing that Elon Musk foresaw AI surpassing human jobs, making work more of a pastime for people. This prediction by the billionaire has stirred debate, as many are left wondering how people would earn a living. He envisioned a society where the government provides a set income to each individual to cover essential needs on a regular basis. Yet, this jobless utopia brings up concerns about emotional satisfaction among people.

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2024-10-11 20:39