AI to create new jobs, enhance employee engagement: Report

Contrary to popular belief, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will have a "positive impact" on workplaces as it would create new job roles besides enhancing employee engagement and decision-making, a report said Thursday.

According to a Tata Communications' study based on inputs from 120 global business leaders, AI will diversify human thinking rather than replace it.

As per the study, 90 per cent leaders agree that cognitive diversity is important for management, while 75 per cent respondents expect AI to create new roles for their employees, and 93 per cent believe that AI will enhance decision-making.

"While AI will replace some tasks, it will also create new ways of working, new jobs and new roles in companies. AI will also help people as well as organisations become more productive. It's not man vs machine, rather man and machine working together," Tata Communications CEO and MD Vinod Kumar told PTI.

The report further noted that AI has the potential to assess each employee's skills and innovation priorities, and suggest activities to spark creative thinking throughout the organisational hierarchy. This can democratise the creative process and increase engagement of all workers.

AI will also free employees from most tedious repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus more on communication and innovation.

"Work will move from being task-based to strategic, enabling workers to enhance their curiosity and creative thinking," it added.

According to Professor Ken Goldberg, a leading AI researcher at UC Berkeley, there is fear now that AI will surpass human thinking and that machines are superior to humans.

But, it is important to keep in mind that while machines do certain things very well, there are many things that they are not very good at, like the nuances of communications, understanding, empathy, and creativity, he said.

"Robots and AI are not going to take away this creative, insightful, empathetic aspect of almost every job," Goldberg noted.

Tata Communications had partnered with Goldberg for the survey.

The study also included 15 in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs, executives and thought leaders.