By Shashank Shwet
Artificial Intelligence has instrumented the widespread emergence of new-age technologies such as Big Data, robotics, RPA, ML, and IoT. It is slated to enable further innovation in the sphere of technology for the considerable future. So much so, these next-gen tech-skills will account for almost a quarter of all industry hiring. As per recent reports, recruitments in the IT software and services vertical sector have been rising increasingly on a MoM basis at 7 per cent, thanks to the digital-focused drift and virtual working environment catalysed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Even the education sector has been drastically morphed with the switch to online digital learning in the wake of the pandemic. This intersectional confluence between the traditional education sector and new-age tech optimisation has birthed a sprawling state of the art edutech sector that is fast revolutionising conventional pedagogy.
Moreover, the AI Index 2021 Annual reports has revealed that funding to AI-based start-ups in India has escalated by a substantial 97.27 per cent at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) during the year 2019. Amid this pan-industry digitisation, the funding amount has significantly mounted from US$ 20 million in 2013 to almost US$ 233 million in 2019. With the proportion of total funding in AI start-lups as compared to other startups in India increasing steadily, AI is transforming the future map of work and learning in a pivotal way.
When it comes to the edutech industry, AI has proven to be a veritable transformational force by ushering social-emotional learning modules. The learning landscape has witnessed major change with the emergence of customised tools and techniques:
Smart content: AI is aiding in increasing the learning impact through the insertion of numerous tools and intelligent content frameworks. This has empowered students to create their own lessons based on subject learning that is facilitated through digital learning material and virtual tutors.
Virtual learning: AI has significantly abridged conventional teaching methodologies by leveraging automated class management systems that has simplified learning for both students as well as teachers. By assessing a student’s various interests and predilections in class via facial recognition, teachers can locate the time and topic whenever the class engagement figures fluctuate. This will prove beneficial in raising the efficacy of tutors and employing suitable teaching methodologies to increase the class engagement score.
Effective assessments: Automated grading system will help in augmenting the objectivity of learning and performance result of students. This will help in objectively detailing the strong points and improvement areas and thus enhancing the pedagogical ambit for students.
Personalised learning: AI is also aiding in curating an array of personalised learning dashboards depending on the existing knowledge level and offer valuable suggestions that can visibly improve the learning process.
Engagement tools: AI has also initiated the utilisation of new-age gamified and reflective learning gamification tools to help increase a students’ learning engagement, by focusing on their behavioral and personality traits to cement a robust learning correlation based on personalised gamified learning components.
With the incredible surge in the application of Artificial Intelligence in today’s world, it must be noted that the contemporary institutions of learning in the country are failing to ready current generations for the future ahead. The business world must optimise appropriate knowledge and proficiencies to walk toe-to-toe with the aggressive pace of digital automation. Therefore, the EdTech must focus on capitalising the potential of AI in shaping the technological curve for the foreseeable future.
LinkedIn data has shown that hiring professionals can invest almost 23 hours while scanning resumes shows recruiters can spend up to 23 hours looking over resumes to hire the perfect candidate. AI is revolutionising the hiring process by enabling automated search application to sift through millions of resumes within a matter of seconds to zero in on the right candidate. AI-powered resume scanning has turned quite the norm these days. No wonder, over 67 per cent of hiring managers in the year 2019 said that AI has been instrumental in simplifying their work-processes.
Moreover, AI had already assayed a seminal part in streamlining the recruitment process. Automated AI-enabled systems can now eliminate about 3/4th of the resumes and presents only the relevant ones before the hiring team. In the future, there will be hiring bots to replace humans and provide a seamless screening and interview process.
The Future scope of Artificial Intelligence in India 2021 shows that the country will have over 8 billion AI-powered voice assistants by 2023 while the global AI industry is purported to reach a valuation of US$ 60 billion by the year 2025. Furthermore, riding on the AI disruption, the global GDP is slated to climb to a whopping US$ 15.7 trillion by 2030 as AI will enhance business productivity by 40 per cent.
Over 52 per cent of experts opine that while automation may render some conventional fields redundant, it will continue to foster novel growth opportunities to further growth and innovation. AI and machine learning occupy the topmost spot at numerous lists recounting the essential skills needed in the professional world, presently. Also, there is expected a 71 per cent rise in job profiles that demand proficiency in AI or machine-learning skills in the coming five years.
The top five most in-demand skills in AI include AI engineering, RPA, IoT, cloud technologies, and quantum computing. These emergent skills are evidently redefining business perception and erstwhile processes to create a huge forward leap in terms of technological optimisation. This has offshooted a commendable paradigm shift in terms of accelerated technology stacks and cutting-edge problem solving across a plethora of business verticals. Welcome to the Industrial Revolution 4.0.