- Walmart is bracing itself for major AI adoption
- The retail giant has been exploring AI usecases for seven years
- In July 2020, Walmart rolled out its AI voice assistance called Ask Sam
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon has predicted that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will have a major impact on the future of jobs across sectors. This week, the retail giant hosted a workforce conference at its Bentonville headquarters. During this conference, McMillon said that in the future, the company does plan on cutting some jobs and roles — delegating tasks to AI.
“Maybe there’s a job in the world that AI won’t change, but I haven’t thought of it,” reports quoted McMillon as saying during the conference.
At present, Walmart’s global workforce maintains a headcount of over two million. Over the last few months, however, Walmart has reportedly ramped up discussions to assess what categories of jobs and tasks could decrease with the adoption of AI.
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In alignment with its pro-AI adoption roadmap, Walmart has started providing AI training to its existing workforce of over two million. Last month, for instance, the company partnered OpenAI to equip its workforce with AI training.
The company claims that this AI training is aimed at preparing its employees for the “jobs of tomorrow” across sectors ranging from supply chain management to store management.
As per reports, Walmart has been exploring AI usecases for seven years.
In July 2020, Walmart rolled out its AI voice assistance called Ask Sam to the employees of over 5,000 Walmart stores. The aim was to help employees with quick finding of products and compare prices.
The platform has also experimented with deep learning AI to finetune grocery shopping and ordering for customers.
