Technology has become the holy grail of progress though it did not take long to realise that there is a social dimension attached to it. The platform economy has had severe effects on the bargaining power of suppliers and workers. Data analytics opened a whole array of ethical questions regarding personal tracking and privacy. Further, technological upgrades create productivity gains by efficiency which in turn requires reduced human labour. This poses a particular threat to emerging economies, like India, which need to create new jobs on massive scale for its young and growing population.
The utopia around Artificial Intelligence in the times of jobless growth presents a whole new set of challenges. Is the Indian economy ready to ride the AI wave? Who will benefit from AI: investors, big tech, users, or society as a whole? What is and can be India’s role in this global race for innovation? Is tech gender neutral? What about privacy and user protection? How to ensure decent work and social protection in this new age tech revolution? But mostly, how can we turn Artificial Intelligence for All into a reality?
To foster this debate, the FES India Office has teamed up with several experts and organisations across the country to explore ground realities with the objective to understand how technology is already unfolding in selected sectors, draft scenarios of what might happen and to ensure proper safeguards are put in place at the right time.
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