From deepfakes of celebrities to the tumultuous career path of ChatGPT pioneer Sam Altman, artificial intelligence (AI) has been hogging headlines for some time. And its own appearance on usage frequency maps—one of the first functions it revolutionised—is only set to zoom. New technology throws up big hopes, but also the fear that there are demons hidden in the small print. The big debate raging is whether AI is a tool mainly harnessed by a few tech giants, and that the Global South might ultimately lose out. OpenAI, which crafted ChatGPT, has Microsoft as it majority stakeholder. The seven Big Tech firms including Meta and Apple have added an eye-watering $4.6 trillion to their market values since November 2022, when ChatGPT launched. But for India, AI could mean a serious loss of jobs and a chunk of the lucrative Western marketplace.
For the US and Europe, always short of skilled manpower, AI is already proving to be a huge boon. However, for India and similarly placed economies burdened by unemployment, the worry that many will lose their jobs to AI is real. The recent waves of retrenchment in ed-tech firms and in digital ecommerce outfits such as Flipkart and Swiggy have rung alarm bells. Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari rightly pointed out that AI-engineered ‘driverless’ cars may be welcome in labour-shortage economies; but what sense does it make for India to take away the jobs of thousands of drivers?
The flip side is that new technology has often conjured up the fear of job losses. From the 18th century farmhands smashing machines fearing for their livelihood, to workers striking against computerisation, new productive tools have always been looked at with suspicion at first. But history has also proved that while some jobs were lost to technology, the economy multiplied manifolds to create more, higher-paying jobs. Like the steam engine or the computer, AI is but a tool.
Besides driverless cars, it can be used for countless applications to raise production and narrow the yawning income gap. For instance, public services like health and education are hobbled by badly-trained teachers and health workers. AI can make a difference by raising standards and improving access. Applying for a bank loan for a farmer can become a breeze. AI-driven language translation services are already making a difference. AI, like any other technology, is not an end itself. Used to the right ends, it can be revolutionary.