New Delhi: Nandan Nilekani is betting big on AI, and companies like Infosys building their own smaller-scale models can turn the technology into an opportunity and not a threat to Indian jobs.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Nilekani advocated for the use of small language models trained on specific data to take charge of India’s AI destiny. He said, “AI would replace some functions in his country’s tech industry—but new roles marshalling its power would crop up.”
The Indian service sector has struggled for a while, FT reports, as a combination of subdued growth and customers, including Wall Street banks, cutting down on IT spending has slowed down hiring. Nilekani told FT that he didn’t expect the number of hires to pick up partly because of the weakened global economy and because of advances in AI.
But he does think that Donald Trump’s re-election could “spur the industry”, even though Indian IT companies are first in the line of fire if Trump cracks down on H-1B visas.
“The bull case is that this will unleash market deregulation, businesses will grow, people will do more acquisitions and therefore there will be more activity and therefore IT guys will benefit from it,” he told FT. “My own sense is that they will probably support legal migration, which makes sense. I mean really high-quality talent, why would you not do it?”
The question of what to do with high-quality talent is a structural issue in India, however, with too many educated people vying for too few jobs. The New York Times explores this in a report on the spate of exam paper leaks in India, and the chaos it creates for all involved.
The sluggish service sector that Nilekani talks about makes a reappearance in this story, as the NYT observes that the sector hasn’t generated enough jobs for Indians.
“That makes government jobs highly prized,” the NYT points out, explaining why aspirants spend years sometimes preparing for such coveted roles, even if it’s just the role of a peon. And it also creates the temptation to cut corners and cheat to get them, allowing for the proliferation of a middleman industry where people were making lots of money from stealing exam papers and leaking them at exorbitant sums.
The story explains the leaks as a pyramid model: “At the top is the procurer of the leak. Below him are middlemen. They work with agents at the village level, who recruit customers.” And payment is only guaranteed if exam results are not cancelled.
The BBC reports on another major Indian problem and what Indians are trying to do about it: pollution. Families are fleeing Delhi to escape the smog, the story says, profiling the lives of many who’ve been able to afford prioritising their health by leaving the city and moving to safer climes like Goa.
“Air pollution increasingly crossed hazardous levels between October and January, leaving the city’s skyline hazy and air poisonous. Ordinary activities like walking outdoors or even playing with his child at home started feeling stressful and risky,” the story says.
Except the choice to leave isn’t available to millions of people, who are forced to live and work through the smog.