BENGALURU: As OpenAI’s ChatGPT and the recent ‘R1’ low-cost AI model by Chinese firm DeepSeek have raised concerns about the future of jobs, the Economic Survey stresses on skilling employees so that artificial intelligence (AI) can augment their efforts rather than replacing them.
It states that it is time for India to build necessary institutions that will minimise disruptions and maximise societal benefits. It also asks the corporate sector to display a high degree of social responsibility.
“If companies do not optimise the introduction of AI over a longer horizon and do not handle it with sensitivity, the demand for policy intervention and the demand on fiscal resources to compensate will be irresistible,” it states. AI must be introduced with sensitivity to the country’s needs.
It adds that capacity and institution building is the need of the hour for India to capitalise on the opportunity that lies ahead. While some level of work displacement is inevitable, the survey points out that policymakers, academia, and the private sector should work together to raise the overall quality of human capital in India.
The Indian AI market is expected to grow at 25-35 per cent CAGR by 2027, and this further fuels anxieties about employment.
Being a service-oriented economy, India is particularly vulnerable to automation and skilling employees as well as educating them are crucial.
“This will minimise labour displacement as best we can. The silver lining is that due to the R&D nature of AI, India, this time, has the opportunity to catch up with, if not get ahead of the curve and prepare its workforce,” the survey says.
Stressing on equipping the workforce with future-ready skills such as AI, it says AI functions as a tool tailored to particular purposes and that it is more suited to supplement human action rather than to be a total replacement for work performed by them.