Job loss: Fear of artificial intelligence, robotics misplaced; technology cannot replace human hand

The emergence of technologies like robotic process automation, artificial intelligence, natural language processing and machine learning – to name a few – are advancing business, science, and lifestyle at a rapid pace. However, they are also threatening to take over a large number of jobs from humans in the near future. Or so people believe.

It is true that there are certain kinds of jobs, or tasks within jobs, that can be completely left to machines. However, these are fairly limited. A McKinsey study suggests that less than 5 percent of all occupations would be fully automated in the near future and 60 percent of the occupations could have 30 percent of the tasks automated based on currently available technologies.

These numbers, however, do point to the simple and obvious fact that technology will play an increasingly important role in human activities going forward, and that we need to keep pace with latest developments to be relevant in the modern-day work environment. Unfortunately, news reports over predicted job losses and recent instances of workforce reductions by some of India’s biggest companies have instilled a negative sentiment and sense of fear amongst professionals. Lack of awareness and limited consideration to the emerging opportunities is probably one of the biggest causes of this sense of fear surrounding emerging technologies.

Currently, there is a gap between the picture painted and the reality, which has moved conversations away from talking about the benefits of bringing emerging technologies into the workplace to the repercussions of implementing new technology. The truth is, machines will not take away jobs, but will help in making professionals a lot more effective and productive.

A key requirement is for organizations to identify and communicate the opportunities to their workforce and upskill their talent to leverage the latest technologies, thus investing in employees as strategic partners for business growth. It is important to encourage and educate employees to upskill to stay relevant in the market. While doing so, a great responsibility lies with the employers to stress on the fact that machines will not take away roles instead the inclusion of machines will create a conducive environment for growth, higher efficiency and overall productivity. Clearly, all jobs or industries can be automated fully.

For instance, Artificial Intelligence is getting better at tackling complex problems, but it is incapable of creativity, empathy, leadership, and artistic expression – traits that are unique to humans. Big Data can analyze massive amounts of data and provide great insights, but it still requires a human to place those insights in moral, ethical, cultural, and eventually in business context. Hence, the ‘human hand’ will always be required.

There is another reason why all jobs or industries cannot be automated away – and this needs to be looked at from an economic, political, and social lens of any country. In India, the IT industry currently serves two-thirds of the fortune 500 companies and continues to remain one of the largest employers of the nation. Herein, it’s extremely important to understand the government of a competitive economy like India will always ensure that its citizens stay relevant with employable skills.

The collaboration of humans and machines will undoubtedly, create new job opportunities for prosperity and economic equality. Countries witnessing this shift such as India and other developing markets should focus on facilitating innovation, strengthening education, skilling talent across levels, to reap the benefits of new technology adoption. Economies and institutions will have to build social safety net for its people amid this change to enable successful transition.

It is interesting to note that 65 percent of children entering primary schools will work on completely new job types that don’t yet exist, as stated by a report by the World Economic Forum. This means that a larger onus rests on the education sector to empower learning institutions to provide the right skill training that will help students in taking up roles of the future. The emphasis will have to be on the emerging future-proof skills and providing the required infrastructural support to make this a reality.

As the industry gears to drive digital technology transformation through workforce realignment, it is important to bring each member of the workforce along. There is a shared responsibility to drive awareness of the importance of emerging technologies in the larger sections of the population – especially semi-urban and rural regions that are currently untouched by the shift in technology and the changes in the employment sector. The responsibility for achieving this must be shared between the Government, industry bodies, private corporations, citizens and any every institution involved with making talent employable. It is imperative that all of us think and act in collaboration, for socio-economic progress happens to be one of those things that cannot be automated.

(The writer is Chief People Officer, NIIT Technologies)