Microsoft’s New Sales Pitch for AI: Spend Less Money on Humans

Microsoft has a new pitch to persuade businesses to spend money on artificial intelligence–powered services: If you use them, you won’t need as many employees.

The potential of AI to replace human workers is an old idea, but one most companies have avoided bringing up explicitly, for fear of suffering reputational harm and political attacks. But as tech companies try to overcome customer uncertainty about the value of AI, they’re becoming more direct about that possible benefit.