The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY) said on July 21 that the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was not leading to any job losses, and was in fact on track to increase India’s Gross Domestic Product. Rajya Sabha BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi had asked “whether [the] Government has evaluated [the] socio economic impact of generative AI on job losses”.
In a written response, the IT Ministry said, “No … The advent of Artificial Intelligence is not leading to any job losses; instead it is being used as a tool for augmenting capability.”
The Ministry didn’t deny that some tasks may become redundant: “AI may result in automating some routine jobs but will also result in job creation in various data science, data curation etc,” the government said. “This will require reskilling and upskilling, for which MeitY has initiated FutureSkills PRIME,” an upskilling programme for 10 emerging technologies.
“AI is expected to raise India‟s annual growth rate by 1.3% by 2035, which amounts to an addition of $957 billion, or 15% of current GVA (gross value added) to India‟s economy,” the government said. This number appears to be derived from a 2017 report by the IT firm Accenture.
