Will AI’s growth bring both challenges and opportunities, what Economic Survey 2023-24 says?

With the global labour market amidst a ‘disruption,’ and constantly being reshaped by the fourth industrial revolution, the Economic Survey 2023-24 recognizes that India would also not remain immune to the transformation caused by it.

REQUIREMENT OF JOB CREATION UNTIL 2036

The Economic Survey 2023-24 notes that Indian economy needs to generate an average of nearly 78.5 lakh jobs annually until 2030 in the non-farm sector to cater to the rising workforce.

AI: THE BIGGEST DISRUPTOR

The Economic Survey 2023-24 says that the biggest change in how we work in the future will come from the fast growth of artificial intelligence (AI). It points out that India has a lot of young people and a large population, which puts the country in a special position. AI can bring both challenges and opportunities for the country. 

A particular risk is the BPO sector, where GenAI is revolutionising the performance of routine cognitive tasks through chatbots, and employment in the sector is estimated to decline considerably in the next ten years.

In the following decade, however, gradual diffusion of AI is expected to augment productivity.

The Economic Survey says that since many people in India really like working with technology like the digital public services we have. The government and businesses can take smart actions to help India become an important player in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).

MAKING THE MOST OF AI IN INDIA

Highlighting the need for research and development in this sector, the Economic Survey 2023-24 suggests a need for an Inter-Agency Coordination Authority for AI which would act as a central institution guiding the research, decision-making, policy planning on AI and job creation.

Govt initiatives to ensure an AI enabled ecosystem 

The Government has launched several initiatives to ensure an AI enabled ecosystem and to connect AI to the youth of the country. Some of these include ‘Future Skills Prime’, ‘YUVAi: Youth for Unnati and Vikas with AI’ a national programme for school students and ‘Responsible AI for Youth 2022’. A budget of ₹10,300 crore has been provided in 2024 for the India AI Mission, a significant move to strengthen the AI ecosystem.

A SHIFT TOWARDS GIG ECONOMY

According to NITI Aayog’s indicative estimates based on national labour force survey data, in 2020–21, 77 lakh workers were engaged in the gig economy and as per the Economic Survey 2023-24, the gig workforce is expected to expand to 2.35 crore and form 6.7 per cent per cent of the non-agricultural workforce or 4.1 per cent of the total livelihood in India by 2029–30. 

CLIMATE CHANGE AND GREEN ENERGY TRANSITION

Recognizing the climate change as a hard reality of the present times and projections pointing towards an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, the Survey mentions its concomitant outcome as the possible loss of jobs and productivity.

Another aspect of climate change is the efforts to mitigate its impact by adopting green technologies and transitioning to greener energy alternatives.