Most companies see AI as a reason to cut staff. Walmart sees it as a reason to invest in them. The retail giant announced it will provide free AI training to all 1.6 million U.S. and Canadian employees through a partnership with Google’s AI Professional Certification program.
The push comes as new research shows just 40% of U.S. workers are using AI on the job, and only 5% qualify as “AI fluent.” Those who are AI fluent were found to be 4.5 times more likely to have received higher wages. Donna Morris, Walmart’s chief people officer, called it “unfortunate” when companies use AI to replace workers instead of training them.
Walmart’s new CEO John Furner doesn’t expect AI to trigger layoffs. “We’ll have roughly the same number of people we have today,” he told Fortune. 
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