The adoption of the new productivity tool is at risk of being slowed down by a severe lack of tech talent in artificial intelligence, according to a global poll of businesses.
According to the majority of poll participants, hiring for each AI-related position has been challenging in the past year. Most think it hasn’t gotten any easier or has gotten harder than in years past to find this talent. AI data scientists are still in particularly short supply, and of the roles we surveyed, the majority of respondents said it has been challenging to fill the position of data scientist.
Lessons can be learned from the findings for India’s educational system, which has the largest talent pool in the world. India has benefited greatly from the IT boom, which was brought on by the much-feared Y2K catastrophe at the start of the new millennium but which eventually proved to be of no consequence. However, it has given India’s human resource pool access to a whole new universe of opportunities. AI may well develop into another such chance.
The advanced IT sector and a sizable population of young people who will soon enter the workforce provide India an advantage, according to UNESCO’s State of the Education Report for India 2022.
Of course, there is concern that, despite the fact that there will be more jobs generated for AI-literate individuals, many other professions could go as a result of AI-based automation. However, a McKinsey report predicted that while 57 million jobs in India will be lost to automation and AI, 114 million, or twice as many, new jobs, would be generated as a result of these technologies.
India experienced the second-highest growth in AI hiring globally from 2016 to 2020, after Brazil and ahead of Canada, Singapore, and South Africa, according to the Artificial Intelligence Index Report 2021. According to Jigsaw Academy and Analyst India magazine, there were approximately 91,000 AI-related employees working in India as of July 2020, with 16,500 job opportunities. The highest median pay was paid in Mumbai at Rs. 16.7 lakh, with Rs. 14.7 lakh serving as the national average.
By 2025, the Indian AI market is anticipated to develop at a compound yearly growth rate of 20.2 percent, reaching $7.8 billion. Additionally, it is anticipated that the market for AI software would reach $6.4 billion in 2025. By 2025, AI will increase India’s GDP by $450 to $500 billion, according to NAASCOM. In a similar vein, a poll of over 3,000 stakeholders on the applicability of machine learning by Intel and the Indian School of Business revealed that 80% of respondents anticipated significant staff retention over the next two years as a result of the introduction of AI in their company.
The National Education Policy 2020 reflects the fact that NITI Aayog acknowledged the value of AI in education in 2018.
As a result, the National Education Policy of 2020 has identified a number of crucial sectors in which the use of AI is mentioned. It suggests adding AI-related courses to all levels of school to help students gain the knowledge and abilities needed to fulfil modern business demands. In order for India to take the lead in the disciplines of AI, machine learning, and data science, the policy suggests introducing computational thinking (CT) at a fundamental level of children’s education.
NEP supports the creation of hardware and software that makes use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, learning analytics, big data, blockchain, smart boards, adaptive systems, etc. to enhance student learning and determine individual learning trajectories. It goes without saying that we should support the creation of AI-based software that monitors students throughout their academic careers and analyses learning data to provide information about their areas of interest, regions of weakness, and strengths to assist in making career decisions.
According to UNESCO, India is well ahead of other nations in terms of AI literacy, as evidenced by the fact that it has the highest relative AI skill penetration rate globally. At the same time, it draws attention to two crucial issues: the first is the fact that women and girls, as well as other socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, frequently have fewer opportunities to become AI-literate, and the second is the human dimension of AI literacy, which is frequently disregarded in favour of its technological aspect.
