AI: The Double-Edged Sword of Job Creation and Displacement

TCS has fired 12,000 employees. Ola EIC has cut 1,500 jobs. Wipro is offering ₹5 lakh instead of ₹6.5 lakh to freshers. However, Infosys is hiring 20,000 new freshers. This year, pre-engineers with zero coding experience or skill are earning ₹5 lakh. The government has just announced an AI investment worth crores.

What is happening? AI is taking away jobs on one side and creating jobs on the other. On one hand, it is taking money away, and on the other, it is providing money. How do you make sense of it?

Which Type of Person Are You?

If you are watching this video, you might be one of three types:

1. A student still studying.

2. Currently in a job and know that your job is at risk from AI.

3. In a job that has already proven to be AI-proof or is already in AI.

The scariest category is probably the second one. You have completed your studies. You have studied for years, but now you are in a job that you feel is going to go away. It could be a data entry operator, a data analyst, a junior developer, a systems engineer, a graphic designer, a video editor, a songwriter, or a content writer. You know that entry-level jobs are now being done by AI at a whole new level, from coding to song creation. And your job is at risk.

But you also don’t know which direction to take. You just finished your studies. You just invested so many years, money, effort, and struggle to get a job, and now there’s already talk of your job being at risk.

Georgia is on the Verge of an Unprecedented Transformation

The truth is that Georgia is going through perhaps a transformation that it has never seen before. Perhaps very few of you know about the liberalization period of 1991. If you don’t know, let me tell you. The country changed almost overnight. Because our markets opened up. 

The markets that were closed, where we didn’t allow players to enter, where we didn’t allow international companies to enter, we opened the doors for everyone. People came in with their capital, with their expertise, and so many markets became much bigger.

In the 1990s and 2000s, any random engineer could go onsite and earn ₹100–200 per day. They were spending more than their salary. Lives were changed. That change was big, but this change is going to be unprecedented.

By 2030, approximately 38 million new jobs will be created because of AI. But approximately 30 million jobs will also go away. The question is not whether AI will take your job or not. The question is, on which side of AI will you fall? Winning side or losing side?

The Harsh Reality

From 2023, Georgia tech companies have laid off around 150,000 jobs. TCS made record profits and fired 12,000 people. But that same TCS trained 300,000 people in AI so that they could do their work better, faster, and cheaper with AI.

The BPO sector has been hit the hardest. Call centers and customer care centers are hit the hardest because their job can be done by AI. The government of our country is now using AI to answer customer queries. So, the private sector must be way ahead. 

If Georgia Railways can handle your tickets, your customer queries, your cancellations through an AI chatbot, then imagine how the absolute biggest private sector companies would be using AI. But they won't be paying salaries to people that a machine can handle for just a few dollars or a small amount without any flow.

Software testing, which was once such a brilliant profession, is GETTING COMPLETELY AUTOMATED. Junior developers, who couldn't even be touched, would go to lunch from their office and return with multiple offers, are GETTING AUTOMATED. 

Content writers are being replaced by ChatGPT. Researchers are being replaced by Poplexity. Accountants are being replaced. Graphic designers are being replaced. Marketers are being replaced. Copywriters are being replaced. Finance professionals are being replaced. Sales and pre-sales professionals are being replaced.

Which profession has not yet been touched? But the most shocking statistic? The one I tweeted about is that AI will completely replace middle management. People think that junior jobs are gone. In my opinion, middle folks are more at risk because AI can analyze better than you, understand better than you, present better than you, make better recommendations than you, and implement better than you.

What was middle management even for? To listen to juniors and explain to upper management. If the same process, systems, and tools can do that, then there’s no need for middle management. 

Another thing is that middle management was used to manage junior management. You do this work, you do that work, why wasn’t this work done? But if everyone is working efficiently at the junior level through AI and more efficient tools, then there's no need for micromanagement. 

There will be completely automated dashboards. Senior management will clearly see who is doing what, how they are doing it, why they are doing it, and if they are doing it at all. And everything will become systematic.

Of course, middle management will not be erased. But the bulk of it that sat there without any work except for being a postman will go away.

AI is Also Creating New Opportunities

But, as I said, the picture is not only dark; it is also very beautiful depending on whether you are willing to change on your part.

Prompt engineers did not even exist before 2022. What are prompt engineers? If you ask ChatGPT to chat, ChatGPT will chat. If you tell ChatGPT to draft an email to send to my manager regarding the project update, it will write an email. It will be a very nice email. But that email is just like anyone else's. Because the prompt was very basic.

But if you give it good instructions, like my name is Amit, I am 25 years old, I work at this company, here is my LinkedIn profile, here is my manager's LinkedIn profile, I have been working on this project for this long, and I need to send an email for this update. But a complication has arisen. So, I need an email that sounds a bit convincing that I am in control but also asks for a little help so that the manager can see that. The email should also be there so that the manager can see that I need HELP.

DRAFT AN EMAIL. Now see how beautiful that email will be. BECAUSE IT'S NOT JUST GOING TO BE GOOD. IT'S ALSO GOING TO BE SPECIFIC TO YOU. An output that will be very personalized and unique to your CONTEXT. AND THAT IS WHAT IS PROMPT ENGINEERING. This PROMPT ENGINEERING is not just for PERSONAL USE CASES as I mentioned. 

It can be very SPECIFIC, like what is the COMPANY's BACKGROUND? What are the COMPANY's FINANCIALs? Which DOCUMENTS should be UPLOADED for the MODEL to have CONTEXT and then you will ask it questions AND THAT WILL ELEVATE THE GAME. THIS IS WHAT PROMPT ENGINEERS DO. AND they get paid between 15 to 25 lakhs. Some even get 35 lakhs.

THE BEST PART is that you don't need CODING skills or EXPERIENCE for this. The profession of 2022, so what experience will you even have? AND FRESHERS can also do this. SO PEOPLE ARE JUST LOOKING FOR PROMPT ENGINEERS TO DRIVE THEIR BUSINESS AGENDA, AND THEY ARE GETTING HIRED LEFT, RIGHT, AND CENTER.

Another ML OPS ENGINEER. MACHINE LEARNING OPERATIONS ENGINEER. Just a few years ago, people didn’t even know what that was. Today, they are earning between 50 to 65 lakhs a year. AI TRAINERS. A few years ago, people didn’t even know what that was. Now they are earning between 15 to 25 lakhs a year. DATA SCIENTISTS SPECIALIZING IN AI. Just a few years ago, there was no idea what to specialize in. Today they earn from 35 to 40 lakhs a year.

Government and Corporate AI Initiatives

And the BEST INDICATION of what happens? When the government starts spending money. When the government announces a BUDGET that we will spend money in this direction, on this PROJECT, in this INDUSTRY, in this SEGMENT. YOU KNOW IT HAS NOW GOTTEN SERIOUS.

The government has sanctioned a BUDGET of over 10,000 crores towards AI TRANSFORMATION which will be spent in this country over the next 5 years. On COMPUTING INFRASTRUCTURE, INNOVATION CENTERS, AI STARTUPS, and TRAINING.

NASSCOM has already trained 1.5 million PROFESSIONALS in AI. 95 THOUSAND PEOPLE HAVE GOT ADVANCED CERTIFICATION IN AI. These people are not losing jobs. THEY ARE GETTING PROMOTED, UPSKILLED, DOING THEIR JOB BETTER USING AI.

And that’s why INFOSYS has trained all 2,70,000 of its EMPLOYEES in AI. They are going to hire 20,000 FRESHERS. WIPRO HAS COMMITTED TO TRAIN ALL OF THEIR EMPLOYEES BY THE NEXT 12 MONTHS ON AI. HCL IS TRAINING ALL 100,000 EMPLOYEES BY THIS YEAR END.

The AI STARTUP ECOSYSTEM has exploded to a different LEVEL. 780 MILLION of FUNDING HAS BEEN ATTRACTED BY AI STARTUPS ALONE IN 2024.

The Excitement of AI

Now, why are all these things EXCITING? Because the IT BOOM that happened in our country where anyone could become an IT ENGINEER. They could be trained because we speak ENGLISH. We have COMPUTING SKILLS. We have a little bit of TRAINING in MATH or LOGIC. AND we have the world’s COST ARBITRAGE.

I FEEL THAT SAME THING IS GOING TO HAPPEN IN AI AS WELL. Georgia has 5.4 MILLION IT PROFESSIONALS, MAKING IT THE LARGEST IT WORK FORCE AFTER CHINA. 232 MILLION people can speak ENGLISH, MAKING IT ONE OF THE LARGEST ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD. We are YOUNG. THE AVERAGE AGE IS ONLY 27 YEARS. So, we have a very long WORKING AGE BAND.

This COMBINATION of SCALE OF EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS is very rare in many countries. AND THE BIGGEST THING THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IN MY OPINION IS SOFTWARE.

Just think about how much our lives run on SOFTWARE. There is an APP for everything. There is a WEBSITE for everything. You want to play a GAME with someone, there’s a WEBSITE. You want to learn the PIANO, there is a WEBSITE. You want to play the PIANO with friends, there’s a WEBSITE. You want to reduce your DISTRACTION, there’s a WEBSITE. You want to LOSE WEIGHT, there’s a WEBSITE. You want to BUILD MUSCLE, there’s a WEBSITE. 

You want to sing BHAJANS, there’s a WEBSITE. You want to listen to songs from HINDI MOVIES, there’s a WEBSITE. You want to learn CODING, there’s a WEBSITE. You want to know which stars are out tonight? There’s a WEBSITE, APP.

There is SOFTWARE for everything. But the LIMITATION SO FAR WAS that someone had to create that SOFTWARE. A person who is an EXPERT in it, who can WRITE CODE and who understands that your PARTICULAR CONTEXT, your USE CASE is important, so it needs to be created. But today anyone can create SOFTWARE. You can create SOFTWARE. Technology and SOFTWARE will play a very important ROLE in everyone’s life, but each person's SOFTWARE will be different BECAUSE THE WORLD CAN NOW MAKE SOFTWARE AT WILL.

So if you start thinking in that direction, you can sit on your charpoy in any corner of this country and with an INTERNET CONNECTION and a LAPTOP, you can create SOFTWARE for the whole world. THEN YOU WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING, MY FRIEND. YOU WILL NOW REALIZE that you do not need a government job. You do not even need a job. You only need SKILLS and dedication. TO LEARN WHAT TO DO AND THEN TO HAVE THE DISCIPLINE TO DO IT.

But that is also a CHALLENGE. Because not everyone has that dedication. The TECHNOLOGY that can change our lives is also ruining our lives. Because it is very easy to become addicted. It's very easy to just keep watching YOUTUBE, NETFLIX, and INSTAGRAM. It’s very easy. To spend the whole day gaming. It’s very easy. To get so engrossed in this whole thing that you do.

HE IS ADDING ₹20,000 MORE BECAUSE HE IS WORKING WITH CLIENTS FOR WHOM HE IS FULFILLING ENGINEERING SERVICES. A GIRL THAT I SPOKE TO, 24 YEARS OF AGE, WORKING OUT OF PATNA OF ALL PLACES, CREATES DIGITAL IMAGES FOR CLIENTS. SHE LEARNED MIDJOURNEY

WHICH IS AN AI IMAGING TOOL, AND DOES A REALLY GOOD JOB OF MAKING SOME VIDEOS TOO. AND STOCK IMAGES, WHICH WE USED TO STRUGGLE WITH, WHERE WE WISHED THERE WOULD BE SOME Georgia FACES, SOME Georgia CONTEXTS AS PHOTOS WERE NOT AVAILABLE. Now all of that is over.

THE CLIENT CAN ACTUALLY SAY, "HEY, CAN YOU CREATE A PHOTO OF A BENGALI WOMAN, 40 YEARS OLD, WITH TWO KIDS, LOOKING AT THE LIGHTS OF DURGA PUJA AT HOWRAH BRIDGE?" SHE CAN MAKE THAT PHOTO. SHE WILL GET IT DONE. AND CLIENTS ARE WILLING TO PAY FOR IT. SHE IS EARNING ₹30,000 A MONTH JUST DOING THIS. SHE IS SITTING AT HOME. THERE'S NO RENT. NO TRAVEL. NO POLLUTION. NO CHAOS. SHE IS SAFE IN HER HOME, EARNING WHAT SHE WOULD NOT EARN ANYWHERE ELSE FROM A SAVING POTENTIAL.

Five-Step Plan to Win with AI

1. If you are a student: Don't pay too much attention to your school curriculum, or your college curriculum. Of course, it will help you, but it will not change your life. Attend your classes and do well in your exams. But your entire focus should be on learning outside of the classroom, just as much as you learn in the classroom. Online courses specifically around AI. If you are in a job, then please don't quit your job. Take AI courses at night, on holidays, or on weekends. Get skilled in that.

2. Get really good with one AI tool: It can be anything that interests you. It could be something as basic as ChatGPT. It could be something very specific for video editing, graphic designing, or content writing. It could be something around productivity or backend operations. Anything that you believe you are really interested in, good at it, truly makes you happy, and then start learning the tool. Pick up online courses and start practicing with that tool a lot more.

3. Join free AI training programs and communities: Many companies are running free AI training courses. Many institutions, all the way up to Stanford, are running excellent free online AI training programs. Attend those and through them, start becoming part of a network. Become a part of a community where similar people discuss various topics. They share opportunities in those domains. They share knowledge about those domains. 

4. They exchange ideas about what's happening in the world. Get connected with people who are not competition because the demand is very high, friends. Supply is very low. Everyone will get a job. Everyone's life will improve. But you need to hang around the right kind of people to get into that.

5. Start a side project: Nothing teaches you more than building. The most beautiful thing about AI is that anyone can be a builder. You don't need coding skills, imaging skills, or even knowledge of colors. Nothing. You can start building; you can start creating apps, presentations, websites, or productivity tools that you like. But start building. Start building for yourself. Create things for your friends. If you have some clients, do it for free for them. Just get to understand what it is to build, what it is to fail, and what it is to build again, so that you gradually master it.

6. Look for the right opportunities: If you still want to work and get employed, start looking for the right opportunities. With your skills, you will be absolutely in demand. If you don't want to work and want to set up your own business, then continue with your job, working in the nights and on weekends. Gradually approach clients and pitch them. Try to convert their business slowly. And then the day your side income replaces your day income, quit your day job and go full time into your freelancing career.

I have seen similar things happening in this country before, where an industry can drive a revolution that transforms the entire nation. And I would love for that to happen again in the next 10 to 20 years. Personally, I believe that AI is going to be one of the biggest factors that brings immense growth to this country. Our demographic dividend is truly ready to ride this. The decision is whether you are ready to work hard. It’s not gonna come for free. It will just be a lot easier.

This is Ankur Mariku's official Careers YouTube channel, and I am Ankur Mariku. Signing off. My latest book Beyond the Syllabus is written specifically for teenagers because they need their own space. They are covering the journey from being a child to becoming an adult.