Human mind most powerful instrument invented by God: Narayana Murthy on AI replacing coders

Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy

The human mind is the most powerful instrument invented by God, Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy said on artificial intelligence (AI) replacing coders. He added that the discussion and debate around new-age disruptive technologies should be on how it can be used to make humans more productive, rather than on job redundancy.

“The most powerful instrument ever invented by God is the human mind,” Murthy told Moneycontrol in an exclusive interview in Bengaluru. Murthy’s comments come at a time when new developments in the AI space are being said to hurt job prospects with many tech companies laying off employees.

Murthy was speaking on the sidelines of the Infosys Science Foundation’s media briefing on May 15.

Read the full interview here

Murthy recalled a similar situation when in 1975 a set of tools were introduced called “case tools”, which were feared to displace jobs in the area of software development. “It didn't happen... When that technology of case tools and programme generators were invented, human beings said we want to attack bigger problems, more complex problems and those tools couldn't handle them,” he explained.

The tech veteran said some people used some of these tools as assistive technologies. “And the software industry globally exploded.” He further said that the concern about job loss should be replaced by discussions, debates, and thinking on how AI, generative AI, large language models, and other such nascent technologies could be used as assistive tools to make human beings even more productive.

At a press briefing later, Murthy gave an example of how reconciling ledger in banks would take a long time, when the number of customers were small. This has been automated with the development of technology and rapid expansion of banking services.

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“So, there will be tasks like autonomous driving… where jobs will be replaced for the betterment of humankind, however, in the rest of the areas that shouldn’t be a worry as long as human mind, which is the most flexible, uses these technologies,” Murthy told reporters.

On May 15, the Infosys Science Foundation also said it has lowered the upper age limit for the Infosys Prize winners from to 40 years from 50, "to reward potential and recognise the promise of future achievement.”