Renowned artificial intelligence company Stability AI’s CEO, Emad Mostaque, has stated that the jobs of most outsourced programmers in India will disappear over the next two years due to artificial intelligence (AI). During a call with analysts from Swiss investment bank UBS, Mostaque explained that AI will reduce the need for a significant number of software developers.
According to Mostaque, the impact of this development will vary across different countries and job sectors, as each country has its own unique regulations. He predicted that in countries like France, where labor laws are stringent, the impact might be less pronounced.
He emphasized, “As far as India is concerned, most outsourced coders, including third-level programmers, may lose their jobs in the next one or two years, while in France, you may never be able to replace a developer.” In other words, the effects of AI will differ in various countries and industries.
A Bloomberg report highlights the risk faced by over 5 million software programmers in India due to advanced AI tools like ChatGPT. India serves as the primary location for companies engaging in back-office jobs and technical activities outsourced from overseas. Many major technology companies in Silicon Valley, American banks, airlines, retailers, among others, are clients of Indian outsourcing firms.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the largest outsourcing company in the country, and other significant players include Wipro and Infosys. TCS has made a substantial investment in generative artificial intelligence and plans to train its 25,000 engineers to help clients adopt this new technology.
Mostaque argues, “Why would you give the task of writing code when computers can write better code than you? However, not everything in this process will be automated; it will involve a co-pilot with artificial intelligence. This means there will still be a need for fewer programmers for pure programming, but will coders be needed for other things? That’s the real question, and we have to understand this balance, as the impact may vary across different sectors.”
