Over the past few years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionised our world with a major impact on the way many industries operate and how everyday tasks are carried out. With the increasing prevalence of AI in the professional landscape, as seen with ChatGPT recently, there are still many questions about the influence of AI in the workplace.

AI is already enhancing human performance in many domains, such as healthcare and finance. It holds great promise for amplifying human engagement in the workplace as well, and its practical applications are potentially limitless. AI can identify patterns and trends in employee behaviour to propose courses of action to address these issues. It can also help managers better understand and track the progress of their employees through automated tracking tools. As per PwC’s 2021 report, 54% of executives agreed that leveraging AI in their workplace has increased productivity while 79% think AI will make their jobs easier to keep track of, increasing efficiency in the process. It's worth noting that as per the same report, 75% of executives fear going out of business within five years if they don't scale AI.

However, before introducing AI into their workplace, businesses should consider the potential challenges of doing so. The most significant challenge would arguably be employees who may feel like machines are replacing them. As per Mercer’s 2020 Global Talent Trends survey, 38% of people expect technology to eliminate jobs at their workplace over the next three years, while 13% expect AI to eliminate a significant number of positions. If their concerns are not put to rest, it could decrease productivity and employee satisfaction. Other significant challenges include integrating AI into the organisation's existing systems, managing the data collected by the system, and training employees on how to use it effectively.

For a seamless implementation of AI in our professional space, it's important to ensure that all systems are designed to complement human abilities; rather than seeking to replace them, to augment human intelligence and decision-making. This involves incorporating human feedback and values (such as empathy, honesty, trust and compassion, among others) into the development process, building transparency and accountability mechanisms, and prioritising ethical considerations such as privacy, fairness, and non-discrimination. Ultimately, the goal should be to create an AI system that not only performs well but also benefits society as a whole, responsibly and ethically.

Union budget 2023-24’s focus on skill development

Budget 2023 is being hailed as a blueprint for driving India's growth and development. Among other things, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the Union Budget for 2023-24 will focus on empowering the youth through skilling schemes, research & development of AI and digital infrastructure.

To upskill the common man, the Finance Minister announced the launch of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY ) 4.0 to upskill lakhs of youth within the next three years. PMKVY 4.0 will provide the impetus for on-job training, industry partnership, and alignment of courses as per the needs of the industry.

While presenting the budget in Parliament, Sitharaman announced that PMKVY 4.0 would skill the youth for international opportunities. To make India the skill capital of the world and improve the mobility of skilled manpower, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) International has been set up to create a network of 30 Skill India International Centres across different states through the empanelment of state-of-the-art government and private institutions. These centres will enable the youth for new-age jobs with courses on coding, AI, robotics, mechatronics, IOT, 3D printing etc.

Digitising the skilling process was a critical requirement, and the budget addressed it by launching the Unified Skill India Digital Platform. This will open up more opportunities for demand-based formal skilling, encouraging more employers, particularly SMEs, to implement apprenticeship and entrepreneurship programmes. The goal of supporting 47 lakh youths in three years through direct benefit transfer under the India National Apprenticeship Scheme is a lofty goal that will require concerted efforts to achieve.