AI means different things to different people. Some people hail it as a saviour, some fear it as a tool that’ll make their jobs redundant and still others think of it as a mass surveillance technology looking at their every move.
I’m somewhere in between all three, but i think most of us are missing the point. The onset of Artificial Intelligence and it’s impact on human life and jobs is inevitable. We need to be thinking about it’s impact on Indian jobs and what to do next. The Indian focus on Skill India and other such initiatives while laudable, is missing a beat. We are training people for jobs that will soon be redundant, the emphasis instead should be towards either encouraging people to follow their passions or training them in modern technologies. A great example here being China and it’s vision 2025 which focuses on heavy research in AI, Robotics etc. At the same time we should begin investing in a Social Security fund for the millions that will necessarily be left behind.
Given the time scale of establishing funds like these we really need to get cracking. There will no doubt be a massive productivity boost as AI comes to the fore, we need to ensure that we can channel it towards the common good. We must avoid another backlash like the one against globalisation.