Al threat as BT to slash 55,000 jobs

BT has revealed plans to slash up to 55,000 jobs as artificial intelligence replaces workers.

- GRAHAM HISCOTT

The telecoms giant wants to cull its workforce from 130,000 to between 75,000 and 90,000 by 2030.

It revealed a 12 per cent plunge in its profits over the past year, to £1.7billion.

Around 10,000 of the cuts will come from "automation and digitisation" including in customer services.

BT boss Philip Jansen said this would include more use of AI. He added: "We will be a huge beneficiary of AI. It will be as big as the internet and mobile phones.

Asked if customers would have to deal with a robot instead of a person, Jansen insisted: "We are multi-channel, we are online, we have 450 stores and that's not planning on changing at all.

"There are plenty of opportunities for our customers to deal with people at BT." But Jansen also warned that AI must be controlled.

He said: "In the wrong hands, people can do things we don't want them to do.

More than 15,000 jobs are expected to go as BT's roll-out of fibre broadband and the 5G mobile network tapers off.

Other roles will go as older technologies are phased out, such as copper broadband and 3G.