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In its latest round of mass layoffs, Amazon is eliminating 16,000 jobsfollowing a round of 14,000 cuts back in the fall. The tech giant did not cite artificial intelligence in a memo to employees, and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has previously denied that the company is slashing headcount due to AI. But theres no denying AI plays a role, whether or not these layoffs can actually be attributed to it. Jassy has explicitly said that adopting AI across Amazon will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains. Even though there is limited data to suggest AI is directly responsible for the scourge of layoffs across corporate America, plenty of CEOs have made clear that they believe the technology will transform their workplaces, and that their employees need to get on board. Workers are listeningand they’re anxious about what widespread AI adoption means for their job prospects in a challenging market. A new report from Indeed surveyed over 2,000 workers and found that AI is a major concern, with over a third of them saying it will negatively impact their job opportunities and career growth. In fact, AI nudged out burnout as the leading concern among job seekers. For 40% of employers, adopting AI is a major focus in 2026but 35% of job seekers see this as a troubling shift. Your employees know AI isnt going away and will impact their work, Matt Berndt, the head of Indeeds Job Search Academy, said in a blog post. The big question is how? This unknown breeds uncertainty, and thats the disconnect: Both employers and workers are using AI, but they dont understand or trust how the other is using it. This isnt a tech problem; its human. Economists have argued there is little evidence that AI is already displacing workers in high numbers, even in sectors that are more vulnerable to its effects. Still, employees across corporate America have reason to fret over AI: In just the last month, several companies have explicitly cited AI in layoff announcements. Pinterest will be laying off 15% of its workforce this year, in an effort to redirect resources to teams that are working on AI. Citigroup already cut 1,000 jobs in January, and CEO Jane Fraser has teased more layoffs later this year due to AI and automation. This report also aligns with the broader sentiment around AI adoption: Public opinion polling has repeatedly shown that Americans fear AI will usher in sweeping job losses. Indeeds report also captures a fundamental disconnect between employers and rank and file workers. The overwhelming majority of employers are convinced they know what their workforce wants, according to Indeedthough their employees largely disagree. Half of employers also seem to think the job market is actually improving, while 40% of workers believe it is only getting worse. Many employers are worried about budgets and cost reduction, while two-thirds of workers are jockeying for a raise. In spite of these findings, one thing employers and their workers might actually agree on is that burnout is loomingperhaps now more than ever. For workers, burnout is a major concern, not far behind AI. Employers claim to be most concerned with employee wellbeing and burnout, while also anticipating that the 996 schedulethe 72-hour work week that is growing more popular across AI companieswill take over more workplaces. Nearly 40% of employers said they expect longer work weeks, per the Indeed report, even as 46% of job seekers cited work life balance as a top priority. As they face increasing pressure from their employers to embrace AI, its little surprise that workers are not exactly optimistic about what 2026 has in store.
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U.S. life expectancy rose to 79 years in 2024 the highest mark in American history.It’s the result of not only the dissipation of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also waning death rates from all the nation’s top killers, including heart disease, cancer and drug overdoses.What’s more, preliminary statistics suggest a continued improvement in 2025.“It’s pretty much good news all the way around,” said Robert Anderson, of the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which released the 2024 data on Thursday.Life expectancy, a fundamental measure of a population’s health, is an estimate of the average number of years a baby born in a given year might expect to live, given death rates at that time.For decades, U.S. life expectancy rose at least a little bit almost every year, thanks to medical advances and public health measures. It peaked in 2014, just shy of 79 years.It was relatively flat for several years before plunging as the COVID-19 pandemic killed more than 1.2 million Americans. In 2021, life expectancy fell to just under 76 1/2 years. It has been rebounding since.The data reflect not only a complete turnaround from the pandemic but also a lasting improvement in the drug overdose epidemic, said Andrew Stokes, a researcher at Boston University.The bad news is that the U.S. still ranks below dozens of other countries, Stokes noted.“There’s a lot more to be done,” he said.In 2024, about 3.07 million U.S. residents died, about 18,000 fewer than the year before. Death rates declined across all racial and ethnic groups, and in both men and women.Heart disease remained the nation’s leading cause of death, but the death rate due to it dropped by about 3% for the second year in a row. A combination of factors are likely at play, including advances in medical treatments and weight management, said Dr. Sadiya Khan, who treats and studies heart disease at Northwestern University.Deaths from unintentional injuries a category that includes drug overdoses fell the most, dropping more than 14% in 2024. COVID-19, which only a few years ago was the nation’s No. 3 killer, in 2024 dropped out of the top 10.COVID-19’s fall meant suicide moved into the top 10, even though suicides in 2024 declined. Homicides fell that year, too, this week’s report said.Deaths statistics for 2025 are not finalized, but preliminary data suggest around 3.05 million deaths have been recorded. That number may grow as more death certificates are rounded up and analyzed, but Anderson said he expects last year will end up at least a slight improvement over the 2024. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Mike Stobbe, AP Medical Writer
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Some blind and low-vision fans will have unprecedented access to the Super Bowl thanks to a tactile device that tracks the ball, vibrates on key plays and provides real-time audio.The NFL teamed up with OneCourt and Ticketmaster to pilot the game-enhancing experience 15 times during the regular-season during games hosted by the Seattle Seahawks, Jacksonville Jaguars, San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings.About 10 blind and low-vision fans will have an opportunity to use the same technology at the Super Bowl in Santa Clara, California, where Seattle will play the New England Patriots on Feb. 8. With hands on the device, they will feel the location of the ball and hear what’s happening throughout the game.Scott Thornhill can’t wait.Thornhill, the executive director of the American Council of the Blind, will be among the fans at Levi’s Stadium with a OneCourt tablet in their lap and Westwood One’s broadcast piped into headphones. He was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa when he was 8, and later lost his sight.“It will allow me to engage and enjoy the game as close as possible as people who can see,” Thornhill told The Associated Press. “As someone who grew up playing sports before I lost my vision, I’m getting a big part of my life back that I’ve been missing. To attend a game and not have to wait for someone to tell me what happened, it’s hard to even describe how much that means to me.“It’s a game-changer.”Clark Roberts experienced it first hand.The Seahawks fan was invited by the team to attend its home game against Indianapolis on Dec. 14 to experience the game with the OneCourt device that is the size of a thick iPad with raised lines outlining a football field.“The device does two wonderful things,” said Roberts, who lost his sight when he was 24 due to retinitis pigmentosa. “It vibrates in different ways for different plays and through headphones, I was able to hear Seattle’s amazing announcer, Steve Raible. Real-time audio is the real beauty of the device because usually when I’m listening to a game, there can be a delay of up to a minute or more and that can be challenging to constantly ask family and friends what happened.“Can you imagine how this can open up everything, not just football?”OneCourt is working on it.It has partnered with NBA and Major League Baseball teams to provide its devices at games and is in talks to make them available with the NHL, along with other leagues and sports organizations all over the world.OneCourt launched in 2023 after founder Jerred Mace saw a blind person attending a soccer match while he was a junior at the University of Washington.The startup with headquarters in Seattle uses the NFL’s tracking data from Genius Sports and translates it into feedback for the device to create unique vibrations for plays such as tackles and touchdowns.The data is generated from cameras and chips embedded in balls, jerseys and elsewhere. The same technology is used by the NFL’s NextGen Stats for health and player safety, statistics and gambling.“It’s a testament to the maturity of the product and our company that we have gone from delivering this to a handful of teams throughout the last year or two to having it at the largest event in American sports,” OneCourt co-founder Antyush Bollini said. “The Super Bowl is such an amazing event and now blind and low-vision fans can use our technology in a way they deserve.”Ticketmaster’s funding for the NFL pilot went toward underwriting the device to make it available to fans for free, according to senior client development director Scott Aller.“This is a very, very big social impact win,” Aller said. “We hope that we can make an investment like this in every single one of our markets.”After some teams approached the league about improving access for all, the NFL has spent the past few months piloting the program and ultimately decided to have the device make its Super Bowl debut.“It’s not lost on us that we have blind to low-vision fans and we want to do right by them,” said Belynda Gardner, senior director of diversity equity and inclusion for the NFL.Gardner said the league has been very encouraged by the pilot and potential of this technology.“We’re reviewing what we learned and evaluating how it can be implemented going forward,” Gardner said. “There aren’t any definitive next steps and we will use the offseason to determine where this technology sits in the NFL’s suite of offerings.”Thomas Rice, a Jaguars fans, who is blind, said he had a seamless experience with the OneCourt device at a game in Jacksonville. Rice picked up the tablet at guest services at EverBank Stadium and after settling in at his seat, he felt and heard football in a new way.“When Trevor Lawrence threw a touchdown pass to Brian Thomas Jr., I felt the ball travel through the air,” Rice said. “When Travis Etienne ran the ball, I could feel it happen along the sideline.”“It was like giving me my own pair of eyes.” Follow Larry Lage on X AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl Larry Lage, AP Sports Writer
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