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Chennai: Artificial intelligence could shrink the traditional entry point into India’s job market by automating routine tasks in business process outsourcing (BPO), IT, banking and professional services, an IIT Madras white paper has warned.
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The paper, released by researchers at the Centre for Responsible AI (CeRAI), part of the Wadhwani School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (WSAI), says AI’s impact should be assessed at the level of individual tasks rather than entire jobs.
“Entry-level jobs will shrink if we do not reimagine how we work,” said B Ravindran, head of CeRAI and WSAI. The effect depends on the tasks, the industry, rules of AI and how much it costs to use AI,” he said. “Whether AI augments work, redesigns jobs or displaces workers will depend on its capability, cost, safety, regulation and how organisations choose to restructure operations,” said Gokul Krishnan , research director, CeRAI. The paper highlights “AI-cost geography”. The researchers said AI’s benefits and risks would be unevenly distributed among new and experienced workers, formal and informal employees, rural and urban populations, and small and large firms.
However, for entry-level workers whose first assignments are often repetitive, rule-based, and closely supervised, the shift could reduce opportunities to gain experience and move up the ladder. In BPOs and call centres, AI could handle routine customer interactions, classify requests, prepare responses, and conduct quality checks. In banking and finance, it could automate bookkeeping, data entry, reconciliation, compliance checks, and other standardised functions. Entry-level IT workers may see AI tools taking over parts of coding, testing, documentation, and technical support. At the same time, Ravindran cautioned against viewing AI as a direct replacement for human workers. “AI will not take away jobs. Most jobs have tasks, and only some of those tasks can be undertaken by AI. The paper warns that disappearing routine assignments could weaken the traditional career ladder. Such tasks often help new workers acquire domain knowledge before moving into more complex roles. If they are automated without redesigning training systems, the pathway into skilled employment could narrow. Affordable, task-focused tools could spread rapidly among medium-sized businesses in outsourcing, bookkeeping and quality control. More advanced applications, including legal services and medical-image analysis, may remain concentrated in large firms and urban centres with better infrastructure, computing capacity and skilled workers. The paper recommends affordable AI tools for small businesses, research into affected tasks and skills, and clear pathways for reskilling and transition into new roles.