A survey based on secondary sources reveals that more than half of generic work profiles in India will be disrupted in the next two years because of automation. 52 – 69% of repetitive and productive roles in IT, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Transportation and Packaging will be taken over by automation. Remember Chaplin’s Modern Times. There may not automatically be job losses. A new high order of jobs will be created simultaneously. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will come increasingly on the scene which will need workers with higher specialization and critical thinking. The question is whether India is ready for the makeover. It is necessary to invest huge chunks of money in upgrading skill level. Otherwise the advent of AI will naturally lead to significant job losses. The preparation for AI should begin at the school level. China & Germany have already shown the way.
In China, AI education is making great headway. There are plans to set up fifty AI colleges and research institutes by 2020. China is also making great strides in robotics. Youngsters are enthusiastically taken up making of tech-intensive machines and robots. German states have introduced coding for high school studies. Some schools in Estonia are introducing teaching programs in AI for six year olds. These countries are already getting ready for the AI revolution. India has a huge workforce and can achieve a lot if steps are taken in the right direction. That will no doubt enable the government to not merely face the unemployment problem but also tackle the hazards that modernization may lead to.
The very notion of education and how it is imparted in India needs a radical shift. This requires teachers that can adapt to quick changes in the curriculum and to move beyond it when the need arises. Flexibility is the new way to learn but that is far from happening. We are still rigidly bound to the syllabi at the risk of reducing the whole learning process into a rigmarole that students are bored with. In fact, the problem with education in India today is that there is a huge mismatch between what the 21st century demands and what the teachers are capable of delivering. With so many untrained teachers who are now being put through a quick capacity building process it shows that India is not quick enough to meet the global challenge even while this challenge stares us in the face. And the biggest challenge is automation.