AI Will Not Replace Jobs That Provide Services With High Reliability, Experts Say

Jobs and companies that provide reliable services with more efficiency will not be replaced by artificial intelligence, according to Tanuj Bhojwani, former head of People+AI.

"Companies spend 20% of their efforts on building AI, 80% of it on getting reliable results," he said on a discussion panel hosted by NDTV Profit.

He enumerated that high-skilled jobs were converted into low-skilled jobs with supervision. Bhojwani described humans as the "classic option" for supervising and training AI but said that these supervisors were signing the death knell of their own employment.

"Once they give enough 'good' and 'bad' labels, that AI becomes better," he said.

Bhojwani instead suggested leveraging AI tools to elevate India's value chain and serve as a cheaper and reliable alternative to service firms in the US.

"I have seen accounting firms in India taking over the US. They will be able to say that they will give closing of the books in one day, what usually takes 15 days using AI," the AI startup founder said.

He stated that the firms offered cheaper and more reliable services than their US counterparts.

"This reliability will stay in high demand," he added.

AI preparedness will become an indispensable necessity for the job market far sooner than anticipated, according to experts.

According to Suchita Dutta, executive director of Indian Staffing Federation, 65% of jobs are going to undergo changes in the next two to three years. Moreover, 1 crore people coming out of colleges are currently not trained on AI, according to Dutta.

But this might also be a benefit as she stated that India has the benefit of a demographic dividend with "huge potential" to fill the gap between jobs and the talent pool, which is currently 1 million, according to a World Economic Forum report.

She identified education policy that didn't account for AI and skill deficit as the main hurdles to overcome.

Bhojwani stated that jobs in call centres and support centres are going away and AI would soon replace low level engineering and software fixes.

Jitin Chawla, a career counselor, recommended not fighting AI, but instead working with to upskill oneself. He suggested that aspiring job seekers seek training in data visualisation, AI fundamentals, soft skills, adaptability and leadership skills in order to successfully navigate a post-AI job landscape.

Bhojwani opined that data engineering would only provide benefits in the short run, but he didn't think that one could bank on it.