Life Insurance Company is Replacing Human Employees With AI

It looks like the job automation trend is getting to Japan, bringing the country a step closer to a future of layoffs in favor of intelligent machines. Japanese firm Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance Co. is laying off more than 30 of its employees and is replacing them with artificial intelligence (AI) systems that will perform payout calculations for policyholders. For Fukoku Mutual, the move is seen as a practical and beneficial, with expected increase in productivity at 30 percent and a calculated return on investment in less than two years."The "Meanwhile, it's expected that Fukoku Mutual will save about 140 million yen per year by cutting the 34 staff." Understandably, the 34 employees whose jobs are set to be eliminated by March 2017 aren't going to be so happy.