94% Biz Leaders Say AI Will Displace Jobs

AI alone will not replace jobs, but AI paired with robotics or other technology may have a sizeable impact in the long term, potentially reducing reliance on people for repetitive, labour intensive and often risky tasks on construction sites, in factories and warehouses or even restaurants - Theuns Kotze, MD, BSI Group India Private, BSI

New Delhi: A whopping 94 per cent of business leaders in India expect Artificial Intelligence (AI) to change some office jobs, with over 83 per cent expecting such roles to be replaced, finds a new report on Monday.

The report by the British Standards Institute (BSI), a business improvement and standards company, comes amidst widespread optimism about the positive impact of AI tools on productivity and recognition.

The report examines AI’s prospective impact on work, based on 932 business leaders across nine countries. It showed that 86 per cent of people in India believe that companies will be at a competitive disadvantage if they don’t invest in AI.

About 78 per cent in India believe that AI tools should be embraced even if some jobs change or are lost as a result and about 80 per cent agree that innovation is more important than protecting existing jobs.

“AI alone will not replace jobs, but AI paired with robotics or other technology may have a sizeable impact in the long term, potentially reducing reliance on people for repetitive, labour intensive and often risky tasks on construction sites, in factories and warehouses or even restaurants,” said Theuns Kotze, Managing Director, BSI Group India Private, BSI.

Notably, 98 per cent of business leaders in India were more inclined to see AI as an opportunity than a risk, while 65 per cent expect AI to be used in the next five years to improve productivity and efficiency.