Letters: A jobless future

With reference to Shyamal Majumdar's column, "The disruption in the job market" (February 26), several experts would not subscribe to the writer's view that millions of workers will acquire new skills with the entry of robots at the workplace.

Even as artificial intelligence (AI) makes rapid progress and encompasses several facets of our daily lives, scientist Stephen Hawking's warning - that humanity faces an uncertain future as technology learns to think for itself and adapts to its environment - cannot be ignored. A report at the Davos World Economic Forum suggested that a combination of AI and robotics could end the era of mass employment. Robots when accurately programmed don't make mistakes. They don't complain about working conditions or demand union representation; they don't take sick leaves or seek benefits.

The next industrial revolution could lead to loss of jobs for 80 per cent of the working population. Such a situation, coupled with a growing population, makes the future look gloomy. If we get rid of jobs, how will people sustain themselves?

H N Ramakrishna Bengaluru

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