VIP layoffs raise questions about AI’s role in changing Vermont workforce – WCAX

COLCHESTER, Vt. (WCAX) – Layoffs of 66 workers at Colchester-based Vermont Information Processing this week are raising questions about artificial intelligence’s role in the downsizing and what it means for the state’s workforce.

Vermont Information Processing is a longtime Vermont-based technology company that develops software for beverage companies.

The company was recently bought by a venture capital firm with new leadership, leading to big payouts for its employee owners. Then last month, VIP announced it bought Encompass Technologies, boasting an acceleration of artificial intelligence in its technology.

“It’s hard to know the interplay of the acquisition versus AI, because both are disruptive,” said Mike Battig, a computer science professor at Norwich University who has referred many of his students to work at VIP over the years.

He said AI is causing one of the biggest disruptions in computer science jobs in the last 40 years. In the past, he said, the industry recovered with new computer engineering jobs. “Ultimately, what I’ve seen economically, there is a greater demand for software services and products,” Battig said.

Vermont is home to a number of computer science and technology companies that regularly adapt to technological advancements. For instance, IBM employed 9,000 people at its Essex Junction plant 25 years ago. Now, GlobalFoundries employs about 3,000 people, but it is far more productive because of robotics and automation.

Some Vermont companies are using AI to compete in national and global markets, diversify revenue and deal with aging demographics.

But some, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, have warned about labor disruptions from AI and called on technology companies to pump the brakes. “When the future of humanity is at stake, we need binding international safety rules, not voluntary standards from the industry,” Sanders said in September.

AI has also raised fears of eliminating entry-level technology and white-collar jobs, which could be painful for those affected, including the 66 VIP employees.

But experts say AI will change the nature of work. “We’ve had technological change always and forever, and the economy adjusts,” said Patty Anderson, a labor economist at Dartmouth College. She says AI will bring more growth for companies, but policymakers need to choose who will benefit. “More productivity is more growth — that’s more pie for everybody. But the question is, how does that pie get sliced?”

At the same time, Vermont has formed an AI task force to explore the emerging technology’s risks and benefits. The task force is working to better coordinate the public and private sectors so Vermont companies and workers can benefit.