Zerodha CEO assures job security amid AI taking over jobs discourse

Many people these days are wondering whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) would take up their jobs and if they would be replaced with robots. Due to the ongoing discussion about the AI replacing human employment and causing layoffs, the emergence of AI has made corporate workers apprehensive and concerned. However, in response to the AI discussion, Zerodha, founder Nithin Kamath, has released a new internal policy that makes it clear that the business will not fire any employees for the simple reason that new technology has been introduced to help reduce workload and increase productivity.

In addition, Kamath in a series of tweets stated that while AI would eventually eliminate a lot of jobs, employers should not terminate workers for this reason alone.

"In 2021, we'd said that we hadn't found AI use cases when everyone was claiming to be powered by AI without any AI. With recent breakthroughs in AI, we finally think AI will take away jobs and can disrupt society," he wrote.

We’ve just created an internal AI policy @zerodhaonline to give clarity to the team, given the AI/job loss anxiety. This is our stance:

"We will not fire anyone on the team just because we have implemented a new piece of technology that makes an earlier job redundant." 1/8

— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) May 12, 2023

Kamath's statement comes at a time when a discussion over how AI may affect employment is heating up. While some experts think AI will eventually cause mass unemployment, others think technology will lead to the creation of new occupations. The effects of AI are already apparent in various businesses and industries. IBM recently announced that it would use AI to replace about one-third of its employment, eliminating about 7,800 human jobs in the process. Many of these positions, which IBM aims to fill with AI, are found in bureaus like HR and administration. At the same time, top management at firms like TCS and Tech Mahindra thinks that AI will complement human labour rather than replace it.

Amid the talk around AI, Zerodha's head believes that AI is a powerful tool that can be used for good or for bad.

He argues that the existence of AI and its use in business are not issues; rather, the issue is how firms will harness its potential to make money. "AI on its own won't wake up and kill us all (for a while, at least!). The current capitalistic and economic systems will rapidly adopt AI, accelerating inequality and the loss of human agency. That's the immediate risk," he wrote.

According to Kamath, governments should enact policies like taxing businesses that use AI to automate tasks and using cash to compensate displaced workers to stop AI from widening the wealth gap. Businesses can potentially lessen the negative effects of AI by assisting staff members in adjusting to the technology by offering training and support.