At the Saskatoon city council Governance Committee meeting last week, businesses expressed their worries about rising property taxes.
As a solution, several speakers spoke about the city utilizing AI to cut costs. The meeting ended with Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia block requesting a report on how AI can be used by city administration before official budget talks in November.
The next day, tech company Vendasta launched their AI employee service.
Through Vendasta, businesses can use AI to support their employees or bridge the gaps for services they can’t afford — most notably their AI receptionist.
“A plumber who has never had someone answering their phones or a contractor who is under the sink, and they can’t answer calls, that receptionist can get their calls… People are also using it to improve customer service, respond after hours, (and) respond in different languages.” said Vendasta brand and experience director Nykea Behiel.
Behiel shared that the AI service has helped companies retain customers by responding within 30 seconds compared to a typical 24-hour response time, adding that one franchise partner from the United States has seen a 372-per cent increase in turning potential customers into paying customers.
But for some workers, the thought of AI employees has led to worries about job losses. University of Saskatchewan professor Devan Mescall says that AI should be used as a tool to help make life easier, not to replace the work of humans.
“When you go at an AI initiative thinking it is going to be about cost savings, which everyone sees as replacing jobs, those have not been effective. In fact, they pretty much all failed.” explained Mescall.
Regardless of what safeguards are in place, Nathaniel Cole from the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour recommends that anyone worried about AI in the workplace make their voices heard.
“It would be helpful to unions as always as a trade unionist myself for members to be in touch with their unions about those impacts.” added Cole.