AI won't steal jobs; ours is last generation to have stable, long-term careers: Microsoft's Puneet Chandok

Tech giant Microsoft’s India and South Asia President Puneet Chandok on Friday said artificial intelligence will not steal jobs, asserting that the real pink slip is going to be refusal to learn.

However, he said the widespread adoption of new-age technology will “unbundle” tasks, adding that “ours is the last generation to enjoy stable, long-term careers.”

“Will AI steal jobs? I don’t think AI will steal jobs. It will dissect jobs. It will unbundle jobs,” Chandok said during his address at the Microsoft AI Tour, which also saw an address by the company’s chairman and chief executive Satya Nadella.

Amid the rapid adoption of AI across all spheres of life, Chandok said the “industrial age era” – template to learn once and make money for the rest of their life using the knowledge – is breaking.

“You and I are the last generation to have stable, long-term careers,” he said, adding that “our kids will do a portfolio of things.”

Stressing the need to learn continuously, Chandok said, “The real pink slip in this new AI era is not automation. That is what we are worried about. The real pink slip is refusal to learn.” We are fighting guerrilla warfare against irrelevance every day and should continue to learn new things, he said, likening learning to an oxygen mask.

The key corporate leader seemed to be alluding to the air pollution problems in the national capital when he added that no one can know the importance of the oxygen masks like a resident of Delhi.

In his speech, Nadella also wondered whether AI models are becoming a “commodity” and added that data is the most strategic asset for any company in the age of AI.

“In the experience layer, data is one of the most strategic assets, and it is one of those things that is super important in the age of AI. But you have to use that data contextually to the AI,” Nadella, who is on a three-day visit to his home country, said.

He said Maharashtra has been using Microsoft’s AI tools for cyber safety as part of a project in Nagpur, and added that the same has reduced the turnaround time on cybercrime investigations by 80 per cent.

The company is also working with other clients, including Adani Cement, Yes Bank, Aditya Birla Group, LTIMindtree on the AI front, he said.