Uncertainty in job sector, impact on environment: Five important points that Economic Survey makes on AI

The Indian government in March approved a Rs 10,732 crore IndiaAI mission in a bid to develop the country's AI infrastructure capabilities and so on

The Economic Survey has covered a range of topics that affect the Indian economy, and a large portion of it has been devoted to artificial intelligence and its impact on the country especially in sectors such as job creation, environment and so on.

In the 476-page formulated report by chief economic advisor V Anantha Nageswaran, which was tabled in the Parliament on July 22, it was pointed out that AI has cast a "pall of uncertainty" in the job sector across all skill levels -- low, semi and high.

"Its (Artificial Intelligence's) productivity-enhancing potential is beyond doubt, but the social impact of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) via labour market disruptions and labour displacement is barely understood. It also has the potential to skew the capital and labour shares of income in favour of the former," the survey said.

The report calls on the Centre, state governments and private sector to overcome these challenges in a bid to maintain high growth rates for the country.

"These will create barriers and hurdles to stained high growth rates for India in the coming years and decades. Overcoming these requires a grand alliance of Union and State government and private sector," the report said.

"..job market must adapt while steering the technological choices towards collective welfare is key," the report said about AI and the job sector in another section.

Here are four other important points that the Economic Survey makes about AI.

1. India integrating AI in value chain through agreements: The survey said that in the medium, India has been focusing on integrating its value chain with that of the West, in sectors such as AI, renewable energy, semiconductors and so on. "This strategy is being pursued through agreements such as the Australia-India Free Trade Agreement and US-India Clean Energy Initiative.  As a result trading patterns within these sectors are starting to develop," the survey said.
2. AI increasing carbon emissions: "The fact is that AI is an energy guzzler. Even as the data centres are ramping up energy demand, cloud storage facilities, crypto mining, and AI are all expected to increase this exponentially," the Economic Survey says. The Economic Survey did not hold back while castigating AI for its impact on the environment. It pointed out that the race to dominate AI has caused carbon emissions to be higher by 30 per cent by 2023.
3. India has 16% of the world's AI talent: India is positioning itself as an innovation hub for artificial intelligence (AI), housing 16 per cent of the world’s AI talent and demonstrating rapid adoption of AI skills, the Economic Survey 2023-24 said. The report also said that there are over 13,000 Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade recognised startups in AI, Internet of Things, robotics and nanotechnology by the end of FY 2024.
4. India working on responsible deployment of AI: The Economic Survey said that India is the current chair of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) and that it has been working on the initiative's various goals including "responsible development, deployment and adoption of AI". "The Union Cabinet has approved an allocation of over ₹10,300 crore towards the comprehensive IndiaAl Mission to democratise access to Al innovation pillars and ensure global competitiveness of India’s Al ecosystem," the survey says.