Application of artificial intelligence: benefits and
limitations for human potential and labor-intensive economy –
an empirical investigation into pandemic ridden Indian
industry
Authors: Mukherjee Arunava Narayan 
Published: June 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to study the extent of use of artificial intelligence (AI) in
the modern organization; to comprehend the changing nature of future jobs in
the context of application of AI; and to study the impact of AI on the
economy of the country with special reference to the job market. Given the
critical scenario of labor intensive Indian economy, the paper intends to
show how AI shall affect rather coexist with human intelligence or
labor.

Design/methodology/approach

The research on implementation of AI in different industries and its effect
on job market are at a nascent stage. There is a dearth of literature.
Hence, this study followed a qualitative approach to have a better
understanding of the research questions as Bhattacherjee (2012) confirms
that employing an interpretive paradigm (qualitative analysis as the
analysis of data, e.g. data from interview transcripts) is the more
productive way to study social order and that it is achieved through
“subjective interpretation of participants involved, such as by
interviewing different participants and reconciling differences among their
responses using their own subjective perspectives”. Sample selection:
The selection technique utilized is purposive sampling. The respondents in
this research are the general managers and HRs from different companies. A
total of 14 senior professionals from various sectors were approached for
the interview out of which seven people gave their consent to take
interview. Seven senior HR professionals, mainly general managers and HRs
from various sectors viz. oil and gas sector, manufacturing, healthcare,
construction, media, power and energy and retail were interviewed to
understand how they are using AI in their respective fields. Inclusion
Criteria: (1) Generally, the people covered under the research are from the
decision-making level of their companies so they are in a position to give
strategic perspective as well as day to day implication of implementation of
AI. (2) Respondents have adequate knowledge of the respective industry to
which they belong. (3) Respondents have reasonable industry of dealing with
Human Resource Management and national economy as a whole assessment tool
and its administration procedures. A narrative approach was adopted to have
a better understanding of the research questions and comprehend their views
regarding implementation of AI in their respective companies. A semi
structured open ended interview was administered to steer the discussion
around the research questions. The respondents were interviewed over the
phone and each respondent shared their stories. Analysis of data: The
narrations were then transcribed by online transcriber website otter.ai.com.
The common keywords as prescribed by the website are as: AI, strategy,
learning and implementation. The extracts of the discussions are noted in
the next segment of the paper. As and when required this research also used
secondary data from the journals, literature available in the websites to
understand the implementation of AI globally.

Findings

A country where the government itself admits 90% of its workforce
belongs to informal sector and conspicuously exits a multi-faceted stark
digital divide (Huberman, 2001; DiMaggio et al.,
2001; Guillen, 2006; Servon, 2002) wherein gap of digital divide is
significant between the rural and urban India (Dasgupta
et al., 2002; Nath, 2001; Singh, 2007; Mahajan,
2003; Dutta, 2003) talking of educating, applying and implementing AI seems
to be “ a distant dream” but an “ambiguous ambition
”

Research
limitations/implications

Prior to implementation of AI that India has to ensure, the basic hygiene
factors of informal sector labor force like social security, 2008, low wages
and lack of legal protection, unpaid overtime and occupational health
problems, poor bargaining power, working without leave under coercion, child
care issues and health ailments(for which mere legislation or
statutarization is just a formality executed than taking real action) to
take the majority of Indian workforce to attain the motivational factor to
acquire the knowledge and skill of AI and to implement it.

Practical implications

The AI and its adoption are still at their embryonic stage in Indian
companies. With the adoption of such sophisticated technology, in one side,
the organizations are dreaming of efficiency, higher productivity and better
organizational performance whereas on the other side requirement of changing
skill sets and decreasing manpower, creating fear among the mass, which
results in hard resistance against the implementation process of AI. On the
other hand, lack of expertise and high cost of adoption is also hindering AI
to implement in the organizations. The adoption and implementation stage of
AI vary from organization to organizations, as well as functions to
functions. While the marketing departments of several organizations are
using advanced level of AI, there, the HR departments are using AI at the
very initial stage. But it is evident from the above discussions that
adoption of AI in business functions is inevitable and only it is a matter
of time. With the COVID-19 pandemic this has become the utmost necessity for
many organizations, particularly who works across the globe. HR partners of
the businesses are also adopting AI at a fast pace to do away with the
mundane works and deliver efficient services to the stakeholders. It is
understood from the discourse that the prerequisite for a successful
implementation of AI across the industries throughout the country, needs a
concerted effort from industries, academia and government.

Social implications

The answer lies in Keynesian economics. The central tenet of which is
government intervention rather investment to stabilize and progress the
economy by way of spreading Internet connectivity, basic literacy and
computer literacy, then only truly AI can be effective in a greater
scale.

Originality/value

A study on application of artificial intelligence in the pandemic era from a
wider perspective, this work is an empirical investigation into the benefits
and limitations of artificial intelligence for human potential and labour
-intensive pandemic ridden Indian economy.