AI and the Labour Market: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Human Element

The Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (COL-CEMCA), the regional centre of Commonwealth of Learning, partnered with the Coalition for Responsible Evolution of AI (CoRE-AI)-The Dialogue and the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) to organise a roundtable in New Delhi titled "Navigating Humans and AI Interaction within the Labour Market: Implications and Opportunities" on 28 November 2024.   

The event addressed global concerns regarding the impact of AI technologies on the labour market as these evolve to deliver more human-like responses and support. The deliberations focused on three key areas: analysing AI's long-term influence on social norms and values, mitigating challenges posed by AI in formal and informal sectors, and enhancing the positive transformations that AI can bring to these sectors. 

Dr B. Shadrach, Director of COL-CEMCA, delivered the opening remarks, introducing COL-CEMCA’s initiatives in technology-enabled education, particularly in AI. He emphasised the importance of dispelling misconceptions about AI and generative AI, often viewed as disruptors in the global job markets. 

The roundtable was moderated by Ms Meemansa Agarwal and Mr Kamesh Shekar from CoRE-AI-The Dialogue. Contributions from international experts, including Marie-Fleur Simmet of INRIA and Maya Sherman from GPAI, provided insights into their current AI initiatives and their potential implications.

A highlight of the event was the panel discussion, "Boon or Bottleneck: Will AI Disrupt the Labour Market?" moderated by Ms Jameela Sahiba from CoRE-AI-The Dialogue. The discussion explored AI's integration in fields such as law, agriculture, and healthcare, emphasising the importance of human oversight to ensure ethical and effective implementation. Eminent contributors to this discussion included Mr Mukul Kumar from Wadhwani AI, Mr Sumit Kumar from TeamLease Services Limited, Professor Sudarsun Santhiappan, Centre for Responsible AI (CeRAI), IIT Madras, Mr Harsh Panwar from LawSeek, Ms Natasha Joshi from Rohini Nilekani Foundation, and Ms Yashita Jhurani from Gender X Digital Hub (GxD Hub).

The roundtable concluded with a call for balanced approaches to managing AI's role in the workforce, fostering inclusive and sustainable progress while safeguarding human intervention.