Syllabus: GS3/Economy
Context
- The Economic Survey 2024-25 called for the creation of “robust institutions,” which could help transition workers to medium- and high-skilled jobs, where AI can augment their efforts rather than replace them.
Major Highlights
- The future of work revolves around ‘Augmented Intelligence’, where the workforce integrates both human and machine capabilities.
- By leveraging its young, dynamic, and tech-savvy population, India has the potential to create a workforce that can utilize AI to augment their work and productivity.
- Raising the Quality: India‘s employment challenge is not of numbers, but also of raising the overall quality of its workforce.
- Service-oriented Economy: India’s economy is heavily service-oriented, with a significant portion of its IT workforce engaged in low-value-added services.
- These roles are particularly susceptible to automation, and a large segment of the population relies on these jobs for their livelihoods.
- The challenge lies in ensuring that the benefits of AI do not come at the expense of the workforce, particularly those in vulnerable positions.
Measures to be Taken
- The survey identifies three types of institutions essential for this transition: Enabling Institutions, Insuring Institutions, and Stewarding Institutions.
- These entities will help upskill the workforce, preparing them for medium- and high-skill jobs where AI can enhance their capabilities rather than replace them.
- Social Infrastructure encompassing Enabling Institutions,
- Insuring Institutions and Stewarding Institutions to help graduate workforce towards medium-and high-skill jobs.
- India will therefore have to fast track the creation of robust institutions through a tripartite compact between the government, private sector and academia.
Challenges
- Practicality and reliability are core issues that need to be addressed by developers.
- AI also needs significant infrastructure for scaling, which takes time to build.
- AI models have to target efficiency gains without compromising on performance.
Suggestions
- Policymakers must balance innovation with societal costs, as AI driven shifts in the labour market could have lasting effects.
- The corporate sector also must act responsibly, handling the introduction of AI with sensitivity to India‘s needs.
- A collaborative effort between government, private sector, and academia is essential.
The Way Ahead
- AI, currently in its early stages, provides India with the opportunity to tackle challenges, strengthen its foundations, and mobilize a nationwide institutional response.
- The country’s predominantly services-driven economy, coupled with its young and dynamic population, offers a fertile ground for leveraging the benefits of emerging technologies.
- As India stands on the brink of an AI revolution, the Economic Survey urges policymakers to strike a balance between fostering innovation and addressing societal costs.
Source: PIB
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