Artificial Intelligence (AI) is posing a new kind of risk to cognitive skills – such as thinking, reasoning, problem-solving, remembering and learning – which makes those in white-collar jobs most susceptible to being replaced, warned S Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
Speaking at FICCI’s AI India Conclave on Thursday, Krishnan explained that the fundamental technological shift in AI from doing physical tasks to thinking work is now directly challenging white-collar cognitive labour, making them most vulnerable to being automated out of their positions.
“If you looked at previous industrial revolutions… the kind of change that they engineered, most of that change was around automating physical, manual work. For the first time, AI is actually replacing cognitive work. So it’s people who work with their minds who are at the greatest risk of replacement by AI,” the Secretary noted.
However, despite the threat of displacement, Krishnan said AI can be used to boost productivity, especially in developing economies like India, while job creation happens through upskilling.
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Arguing that the potential for creating new job opportunities through upskilling far outweighs the risks of current job losses, Krishnan said new jobs will come up in newer areas.
“Immediate temptation for many companies could be to look for the early wins and forget about the long-term issues that could come up, but being in the government, we are concerned for both sides of the coin. It’s not that we are not concerned about job losses, but we believe that the opportunities for creation of newer kinds of jobs in newer areas is far greater, and that happens primarily through reskilling, upskilling, and talent development.
This is a task which is common to all of us. It’s not just the government’s job, it’s not just an industry’s job; it's going to be a range of stakeholders who are going to be involved in this process,” he said.
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