'AI will take away routine tasks, creativity will remain intact'

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will soon take away routine, repetitive jobs which require standardised tasks, said Viju Chacko, Vice-President of Air India, at the Manorama News Conclave 2025 held at the Lulu Bolgatty International Convention Centre in Kochi on Friday.

He also gave an example. "If you assign the same task to the five most efficient employees in your organisation and they all come up with the same level of output, that is one task which AI will replace," he said.

Viju said that AI-driven automation will lead to potential workforce displacement, and entry-level roles may be disproportionately affected, limiting traditional pathways for early career professionals to gain foundational experience. "This reinforces the need for organisations to effect a transition to AI-enabled roles to address emerging skill gaps. This has to be done through targeted upskilling and reskilling initiatives," said Viju.

Even with all the possibilities of AI, Viju also warned about the environmental impact. "Many countries are falling back on their carbon neutrality commitment because very large data centres are required for AI-based services," he said.

Small and medium businesses will have to learn to leverage AI in job roles, stressed Viju. "Indian IT sector historically spurred economic growth and societal progress. AI is transforming all industries, including IT. This necessitates skill adaptation and responsible AI development to maintain global leadership in the new era," he said, adding that AI can replace the data processing part, but the seed of creativity is still with the humans.