We are familiar that with the increasing use of artificial intelligence people are losing their jobs with more pace than they are gaining it. Further, the loss and gain of jobs are happening from two different sections of the population (loss from already marginalized and gain to Silicon Valley). We can evidently see that in the present, initial phase of artificial intelligence, the technology is feeding needs of top eight most valuable companies of the world, with cumulative market capitalization of 5 trillion dollars (almost 2.5 times of India’s GDP) and not being so assertively used to reduced the distress of workers of unorganized sector, marginalized contractual sanitation workers or of farmers.
Data is the new oil. This is said by both industrial tycoon Mukesh Ambani and our nation’s Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi. The question we need to consider is how we are using this new oil. Is the oil being used to reduce the pre-existing social and economic inequalities of our society or the oil is overflowing the barrels of already rich (which we are choosing to assume that it will facilitate trickledown effect)?
Last month, Krishan Lal, 37, a sanitation worker, died in the nation’s capital. He died inside a sewage pipe, which he was trying to unclog as part of his contract work. He was there in the news for two days after which, we as a nation forgot about his blocked body in the sewage. We forgot to ask necessary questions like why he was allowed to go inside the pipeline without any safety gadgets, why his contractor has to keep no legal record of the same, why laws are not so stringent for this safety on this work site, why we don’t have enough safety gadgets in the first place that we have to compromise on its usage. If technology is the future, why Krishnan Lal and like him many are dying so early because of their unsafe work condition. When will we use artificial intelligence to improve the conditions of their natural life?
We all know that 1/3rd of our farm produce goes to waste because of inefficient transportation and storage system. Food grains fail to go to the malnourished child and rots in FCI godowns. Farmers are protesting to get a fair price of their produce, the number of stunted children is increasing and grains are eaten by rodents. What is the solution? By taking a look at the problem we can say that investing in logistics will help all the above-mentioned problems. We need to expertise the storage facility, use intelligence to properly channel the distribution system (so that grain reaches most marginalized).
Gandhi used his charkha (machine- technology to increase efficiency) for the masses. The charkha was as much as of the poor as it was of the rich. It was charkha of the nation, with no caste, class, religion boundary. If Gandhi was alive today he would have had held another Dandi march and satyagraha after seeing the true reality of artificial intelligence world (and the normalization of it).
If technology is the new game then we need to play this game right. More scientist, technicians, and researchers need to figure out that we can use the machine to empower masses and not bring wealth only to a few companies. How data collection can reduce corruption? How computation can reduce administrative inefficiency? We have to start fresh with artificial intelligence. We have to use this power for inclusive growth.