How has Artificial Intelligence impacted the jobs?

The advent of industrial robots has impacted the companies in developing countries in a big way. India hasn’t been left behind in being hit by the AI wave too.

Foxconn—one of the world’s largest contract manufacturers for electronics is one of the best examples of it. Terry Gou, chief executive of Foxconn predicted that 70 percent of all manufacturing in Foxconn’s assembly lines would be automated with robots displacing humans in 2015. His estimate was later back-peddled to 30 percent. Foxconn leads the chart of filing robotics patents with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and also produces thousands of industrial robots a year that in aggregate are capable of performing more than ten types of manufacturing tasks. Going by the announcement, the AI incoming will have a significant impact on the workforce, as many as 60,000 workers have been displaced by robots in one Foxconn factory alone in the Kunshan region of China.

By the end of 2016, China was projected to have more installed industrial robotsthan any other country. The tally is now more than 30 robots for every 10,000 industrial workers. If it increases that density, employment would be further damaged.

The reality of automation is that manufacturing is unlikely to create jobs at the scale that it did in the past. The greatest area of concern ought to be the impact of AI on jobs in the middle-skill category—assembly line workers, clerical workers, and the like.