AI will disrupt job market in India, but we need to embrace it properly: Raghuram Rajan

Former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan has voiced his concern over the rollout of artificial intelligence, saying that many high-skill jobs will be at risk if the technology transformation is not adopted the right way. Speaking at a two-day global digital summit in Kochi, the noted economist said job creation will be a matter of concern with advancement in AI, robotics and machine learning. He also highlighted the significant dip in job creation over past one year.
 
"There has been a steady loss of jobs in routine and unskilled segments. Routine skilled jobs are also being replaced as it is easy to automate them," Rajan said at the event. "In the future, routine jobs will be replaced and creativity will be in focus. Jobs that require human empathy will remain relevant. There will be restructuring across all sectors."
 
Rajan stressed on the need for India to create jobs and wished industries could create more job opportunities before thinking about machine learning. The country must also bring in education and labour reforms at the earliest, he added.
 
However, he was also of the view that there was "overstated hype around the technology and the changeover", and India was a long way away from fearing job losses as a consequence of technological innovations, given that most Indians were not adequately skilled.
 
"India does not have jobs like the West to fear losing jobs (to AI). We don't have jobs to lose. We have to get and create jobs first."
Taking the example of driverless cars, which led to the death of a pedestrian in Arizona, Rajan said the threats are cropping up as there is a push for its fast adaptation. "We need more time to adopt technology in the real and complicated world. Crowded streets of Daryaganj need more time for sure," he added.

He said the adaptation in the country will take considerable time, given that the government is still working with physical files despite talking about Digital India.

Earlier in the month, nobel laureate Paul Krugman had also voiced similar concerns. "Artificial intelligence is something you should be wary of. We can expect that in the future a doctor is approached to diagnose a disease. The same thing can also go to a firm, which uses artificial intelligence for similar tasks. This can affect India's services sector."
Krugman had also warned of mass unemployment if India failed to develop and upgrade its manufacturing and services sectors.