Despite worries, 83% of Indian workers willing to let AI help at job

New Delhi: As artificial intelligence (AI) threatens to take away certain jobs, 83 per cent of Indian employees are willing to delegate as much work as possible to AI to lessen their workload, a report showed on Thursday.

About 74 per cent of Indian workers are worried AI will replace their jobs.

However, over three in four Indian workers would be comfortable using AI not just for administrative tasks (86 per cent) but also for analytical work (88 per cent) and even creative aspects of their role (87 per cent), according to Microsoft's 'Work Trend Index 2023 Report'.

Nearly 100 per cent of creative professionals, who are extremely familiar with AI, would be comfortable using AI for creative aspects of their job.

Meanwhile, Indian managers are 1.6 times more likely to say that AI would provide value in the workplace by boosting productivity rather than cutting headcount.

The data showed that AI is poised to create a whole new way of working and organisations that move first to embrace AI will break the cycle, increasing creativity and productivity for everyone.

"The next generation of AI will unlock a new wave of productivity growth, removing the drudgery from our jobs and freeing us to rediscover the joy of creation," said Bhaskar Basu, Country Head a" Modern Work, Microsoft India.

About 90 per cent of Indian leaders said employees they hire will need new skills to be prepared for the growth of AI.

Nearly 78 per cent of Indian workers say they don't currently have the right capabilities to get their work done, said the report.

"The opportunity and responsibility for every organisation and leader is to get AI right, testing and experimenting with new ways of working to build a brighter future of work for everyone," Basu added.

About 76 per cent of Indian workers said they don't have enough time and energy to get their work done, and those people are 3.1 times more likely to say they struggled with being innovative, according to the report.

More than three in four Indian leaders are also concerned about lack of innovation.

"The primary culprit disrupting productivity is inefficient meetings, as reported by 46 per cent of Indian workers, who feel that their absence in half or more of their meetings would go unnoticed by colleagues," the findings showed.