KUALA LUMPUR: Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil has assured that no employee of Pos Malaysia Bhd will be laid off despite the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in its services.
He said while Pos Malaysia is encouraged to seek the best solutions to advance its services, none of the company's 18,000 workers will face the prospect of losing their jobs.
"AI should be utilised by Pos Malaysia to resolve issues, not just to manage social media comments but also to address operational matters.
"This is similar to the method used by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), which now employs AI to handle network disruption complaints.
"However, postmen need not worry. When Pos Malaysia adopts AI in its services, it will not replace your jobs for deliveries. In fact, the use of robots and drones is still too costly for us. So, don't worry about being replaced or losing your jobs," he said during his speech for the World Post Day celebrations.
Also present were Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching, Pos Malaysia chairman Tan Sri Syed Faisal Albar, and Pos Malaysia chief executive officer Charles Brewer.
At a press conference later, Fahmi said the use of AI will not replace human jobs at Pos Malaysia. He said this was intended to optimise the workforce.
"It is aimed at making tasks more efficient while improving service quality.
"Therefore, I don't see a need to lay off employees when Pos Malaysia adopts AI.
"Technology can be adapted for tasks such as data analysis. AI can perform certain functions, particularly in management aspects, but not in logistics. We don't foresee jobs being lost, although job scopes may evolve," he said.