AI Casts Huge Pall of Uncertainty over Impact on Workers across Skill Levels: Economic Survey

The Economic Survey highlighted the transformative impact of AI, noting its potential to significantly enhance productivity while also posing challenges to employment across various skill levels.

New Delhi: The Economic Survey on Monday said the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) casts a "huge pall of uncertainty" with regard to the impact on workers across all skill levels. The Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled in Parliament predicted that the new-age technology, while turbocharging productivity, has the potential to disrupt employment in certain sectors.

The Survey described AI as "phenomenal in its rapid pace of innovation and ease of diffusion" but also cautioned that the future of work will be reshaped by it.

"... The advent of Artificial Intelligence casts a huge pall of uncertainty as to its impact on workers across all skill levels -- low, semi and high," it said. The biggest disruption for the future of work is the accelerated growth in AI, which is poised to revolutionise the global economy, the Survey noted.

"India would not remain immune to this transformation. AI is being recognised as a general-purpose technology, like electricity and the internet, which is phenomenal in its rapid pace of innovation and ease of diffusion. As AI systems continue to get smarter and adoption increases, the future of work will be reshaped," it said.

The Survey said AI has considerable potential for boosting productivity, but "also has the potential to disrupt employment in certain sectors".

"Routine tasks, including customer service, will likely witness a high degree of automation; creative sectors will see extensive usage of AI tools for image and video creation; personalised AI tutors can reshape education and sectors like healthcare can witness accelerated drug discovery," it said.