India needs to reskill workforce for AI: Kris Gopalakrishnan

India needs to reskill workforce for AI: Kris Gopalakrishnan

BENGALURU, July 10: With new technologies disrupting businesses and changing the rules of engagement, India faces a daunting task to reskill its huge workforce for Artificial Intelligence (AI), Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan says.

“India has a major challenge of transitioning its young workforce to the fourth industrial revolution called AI after the eras of agriculture, manufacturing and services,” said Gopalakrishnan.

“As the large workforce is engaged in diverse occupations such as agriculture, manufacturing and white-collar jobs in the services sector, it needs to be re-skilled to sustain the jobs, as AI will replace traditional jobs,” said Gopalakrishnan. Originating in the mid-1950s as an academic discipline, AI involves machines emulating human intelligence. Many experts like American aerospace firm SpaceX founder Elon Musk and renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, however, feared that AI would spell doom by replacing humans as thinking machines. As a geek, Gopalakrishnan allayed unknown fears of AI, terming it as a transition none can avoid but adopt in due course. Gopalakrishnan said there was no simple solution with disruptive technologies but to adopt them to sustain and thrive. “If we don’t prepare as a country to re-skill our people for an AI-led future, there will be social unrest because their jobs will become redundant,” he reiterated.

Key sectors such as health, education and transportation will be impacted by AI, with machine intelligence reducing labour and redundant activities.

In a technology-driven world, Gopalakrishnan said India’s policies have to strike a balance between protecting an individual’s privacy and promoting the tech medium. Golalakrishnan, however, refused to answer any questions on Infosys’ developments in the field of AI, even as the software giant has been working on the technology through its platforms like Nia over the past few years. (IANS)

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