|
|
India needs to reskill workforce for AI: Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan
|
|
|
|
Top Stories |
|
|
|
|
Bhavana Akella | 17 Jul, 2018
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," Gopalakrishnan told IANS in
an interview here.
Gopalakrishnan, 63, well-known as 'Kris', is
one of the seven co-founders of the iconic IT firm, who became its chief
executive after fellow co-founder Nandan Nilekani quit in mid-2009 to
set up the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for issuing
Aadhaar cards to over a billion citizens.
"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.
"AI
is a transition that is bound to happen, whether we like it or not. We
should rather think of preparing the workforce for it by reskilling it.
We have to brace for skilled jobs, as many conventional jobs will be
lost though many more will be created in allied areas," he pointed out.
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.
Though
use of robots in the automobile industry led to the loss of painting
jobs in assembly lines of car plants, Gopalakrishnan said on the flip
side, they saved the blue-collar workforce from the harmful exposure to
chemical paints.
Hawking (1942-2018), had termed the emergence of
AI as the worst event in the history of civilisation and urged its
propounders to find ways to control its development.
Participating
in a web summit technology conference at Lisbon in Portugal on November
6, 2017, Hawking said computers could, in theory, exceed human
intelligence (HI).
"Unless we learn how to prepare for, and
avoid, the potential risks, AI could be the worst event in the history
of our civilisation. It brings dangers, like powerful autonomous
weapons, or new ways for the few to oppress the many. It could bring
great disruption to our economy," Hawking asserted.
Echoing
Hawking, Telsa co-founder Musk charged that AI was more dangerous than
nuclear warheads and called for a regulatory authority to oversee its
development as super intelligence.
"The biggest issue I see with
so-called AI experts is they think they know more than they do, and they
think they are smarter than they actually are," said Musk at a tech
conference at Austin in Texas on March 12, as reported in the US media.
Countering
the likes of Hawking and Musk, 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.
Unfazed by partial opposition to AI, Gopalakrishnan was passionate about AI for the immense benefits he saw in it.
"As
in every technology, risks are inherent even in AI, though I see a
bright future in its adoption. Through AI in key areas like healthcare,
we can reduce the cost of technology to improve the quality of life," he
affirmed.
Key sectors such as health, education and
transportation will be impacted by AI, with machine intelligence
reducing labour and redundant activities.
"AI is reaching the
critical stage of consumerisation, becoming a technology for our daily
use. It can create opportunities to spur growth," Gopalakrishnan
claimed.
In this context, Gopalakrishnan, chairman of India Inc
apex body CII's innovation cell, clarified that the industry, academia
and the government have to share the responsibility of getting the
workforce prepared for AI-led jobs.
"The preparedness should begin with training undergraduate students on AI by including it in their courses," he added.
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Customs Exchange Rates |
Currency |
Import |
Export |
US Dollar
|
66.20
|
64.50 |
UK Pound
|
87.50
|
84.65 |
Euro
|
78.25
|
75.65 |
Japanese
Yen |
58.85 |
56.85 |
As on 13 Aug, 2022 |
|
|
Daily Poll |
|
|
PM Modi's recent US visit to redefine India-US bilateral relations |
|
|
|
|
|
Commented Stories |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|