Can AI take away human jobs? Here is what Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella feels

By Divya BhatiAs AI tools like ChatGPT and Google Bard become more accessible and powerful, many wonder how they will affect the future of work. Will they create new opportunities or take away existing ones? While many experts have different opinions to that answer, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella believes that new technologies always influence jobs, displacing some while also creating new ones.

In a recent interview with CNBC, Nadella expressed the viewpoint that whenever a new technology emerges, there is invariably an impact on jobs, often resulting in “real displacement”. However, he also acknowledged that new technologies can create new job opportunities. With this perspective in mind, Nadella believes that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to generate new jobs in the future.

Nadella says, “I mean, there can be a billion developers. In fact, the world needs a billion developers. So, the idea that this is actually a democratising tool to make access to new technology and access to new knowledge easier, so that the ramp-up on the learning curve is easier.”

However, Microsoft CEO believes that new technology still requires human beings to read, edit and approve content. He believes that AI will bring “satisfaction to current jobs and net new jobs”. Additionally, Nadella suggested that employee salaries may rise as a result of the company’s plans.

Interestingly, with the rise of AI chatbots, many big companies in the tech industry, including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak, called for a six-month pause on the training of AI systems more powerful than OpenAI’s GPT-4. Their concerns centered around the potential “profound risks to society and humanity” posed by AI. Microsoft, which has made a substantial investment in OpenAI and integrated its technology into the Bing search engine, is also navigating through these concerns.

Discussing the rapid development of AI, Nadella commented that while progress is swift, it is moving in the right direction. He emphasised the importance of humans remaining in the loop rather than being excluded from it, noting that this is a deliberate design choice made by Microsoft. “If anything, I feel, yes, it’s moving fast, but moving fast in the right direction. Humans are in the loop versus being out of the loop. It’s a design choice, which, at least, we have made,” he said .

Bill Gates also highlighted the potential of AI as an asset in education, a sentiment shared by Nadella. In the interview, Nadella stated that students would eventually have access to “AI tutors” that can eliminate their fear of learning. He further acknowledged that critical thinking will be “very much what humans do”, but emphasised learning and taking advantage of the new tools in the learning process.