AI and robotics can create employment opportunities
Popular opinion about AI and robotics has been shaped to a large extent by fantastical science fiction-based literature and cinema. The Matrix, for instance, takes us into a dystopian world where humans are controlled by a massive artificial intelligence system that has taken control of their brains. Or take the case of The Terminator, which imagines a futuristic world where Artificial Intelligence has taken over the earth and views humans as a threat. While we don’t need to worry about any imminent AI takeover a la Matrix, one cannot deny that AI is set to have a profound influence on our lives in the decades to come. In our day to day lives, we’ve experienced AI to some extent – may be in the form of Netflix’s powerful recommendation engine or Chatbots on your bank’s website or smart replies on your Gmail. While all this is great, there is a legitimate concern that automation and robotics will upend entire industries and leave millions unemployed.
IMPACT OF AI IN JOBS
Several studies agree that AI and automation are likely to render several job titles obsolete in the coming years. For example, why would you need a waiter in a restaurant when a robot can do the job flawlessly? Bangalore recently saw the launch of the Robot Restaurant, where food is served by a team of humanoid robots. Similarly, roles such as cashiers or drivers or bank tellers are unlikely to last.
As per a study by Teamlease Services, we can expect about 52-69 percent of repetitive and predictive roles across sectors such as IT, financial services, manufacturing, transportation, packaging, and shipping to be automated in the near future. A 2017 McKinsey Global Institute study predicts that automation will claim jobs of about 800 million people around the world by 2030. While these numbers are telling, they do not represent the whole truth. If we take a more nuanced approach, we find that while there will be job losses, there will also be new kinds of jobs created. As per the World Economic Forum, machines and algorithms are expected to displace about 75 million jobs by 2022. At the same time, these technologies are also likely to create about 133 million new roles. Also, most jobs cannot be automated completely. According to a study by McKinsey in the US, only about five percent of jobs have the potential to be fully automated. A large chunk of the jobs (about 60 percent) will only be automated partially. In other words, automation isn’t so much about humans losing their jobs but about making them more productive.
THE PROFILE OF JOBS WILL CHANGE
While machines can excel at repetitive, manual, or memorybased tasks, they find it harder to replicate human capabilities like creativity, teamwork, innovative thinking; making these skills even more valuable.
This means that we can expect to see a shakeup in the job market. As per a McKinsey Global Institute report titled ‘Jobs lost, jobs gained: Workforce transitions in a time of automation,’ about 375 million workers (or 14 percent of the global workforce) may need to switch their occupational categories by 2030 by training themselves for a new career path.
A similar sentiment is echoed by the EY- Nasscom ‘Future of Jobs in India’ report, which expects that by 2022, 37 percent of the workforce will be employed in jobs that have radically changed skill sets compared to the present day. In fact, 9 percent of the workforce will work in new jobs that do not even exist today.
PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE
In the past, India has done well to leverage its strong focus on science and technology to gain a solid foothold in the global IT industry.
To succeed in the future, we need to focus on massive upskilling and reskilling to bring the workforce up to speed. According to a World Economic Forum report, 54 percent of all employees will require significant reskilling and upskilling by 2022; with a large chunk of these needing long-term training (6 months or more).
A lot that can be done right now to prepare for an AI-led future. At one end, where individuals need to prepare themselves, on the other end, the Government can consider tax incentives to workers toward investment in up-skilling/ re-skilling courses. Additionally, a public-private partnership model where the Government partners with ed-tech companies at a national and state level would also prove to be effective. Also, there need to be efforts to raise awareness about the necessity to gain new skills for the future.
AI and robotics can potentially bring several positive changes, especially in industries like healthcare, banking, manufacturing, retail, entertainment, etc. and predominantly for roles such as Data Scientist, Machine Learning engineer, and Automation engineer amongst others. While change is imminent, how we prepare for the change will define its true impact. And the time to prepare is right now!