Stability AI CEO says most Indian developers will lose jobs within 2 years, AI to make outsourcing redundant

By Abhik SenguptaAs the AI boom continues, many see potential benefits, but others are equally concerned about its impact. We have seen AI pioneers asking for strict regulations to prevent its potential harm to jobs and combating fake news. Until then, things could look drastically different in a short amount of time. It is also a concern shared by Stability AI CEO Emad Mostaque, who has repeatedly spoken about the impact of AI on jobs. During a call with UBS analysts, Emad shared the impact of AI in India and the risks Indian programmers may face.

Mostaque adds that many outsourced Indian programmers will lose their jobs as companies opt to operate with fewer coders and leverage generative AI platforms, such as ChatGPT and StabilityAI. He notes, “If you’re doing a job in front of a computer, and no one ever sees you, then it’s massively impactful because these models are like really talented grads.” He even goes on to say that outsourced Indian programmers may start feeling the AI heat in a year or two.

“Outsourced coders up to level three programmers will be gone in the next year or two, whereas in France, you’ll never fire a developer,” he said, in reference to laws and regulations of countries regarding AI.

Mostaque states jobs will be impacted in “different countries in different ways in different sectors.”

India is a prime location for many multinational companies for cheap labour and programmers. TCS (Tata Consulting Services) is the country’s largest outsourcing provider. Others include Infosys and Wipro. All the aforementioned companies are also experimenting with generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, or at least building their own versions of generative AI models.

Meanwhile, Mostaque’s most popular remarks (or rather a caution) came early this month during an interview with author Peter H Diamandis. The Stability AI CEO spoke about the current state of AI and said that programmers would be gone in five years. He was referring to the code generating and reviewing abilities of ChatGPT and even Google Bard. Microsoft is also building generative AI tools on private servers to let companies leverage the power of technology without worrying about their data.

Mostaque also believes that the next phase of AI will be functioning without the Internet. He stated that ChatGPT would be available on phones and won’t require an internet connection by 2024. Notably, the ChatGPT iPhone app was launched recently. ChatGPT creator OpenAI has also said work on an Android version has already begun. It may launch later this year.