AI’s impact must be evaluated at a task level, finds IIT Madras report

SENSEX 73,321.80

+ 197.97

NIFTY 22,662.50

+ 62.50

CRUDEOIL 9,638.00

 -162.00

GOLD 142,877.00

+ 853.00

SILVER 196,114.00

+ 395.00

SENSEX 73,321.80

+ 197.97

NIFTY 22,662.50

+ 62.50

NIFTY 22,662.50

+ 62.50

CRUDEOIL 9,638.00

 -162.00

CRUDEOIL 9,638.00

 -162.00

GOLD 142,877.00

+ 853.00

'; } document.getElementById("lgdv").innerHTML = htmlElements; } function numberformat(i) { return Number(parseFloat(i).toFixed(2)).toLocaleString('en', { minimumFractionDigits: 2 }) } async function gatherResponse(response) { const { headers } = response; const contentType = headers.get('content-type') || ''; if (contentType.includes('application/json')) { return await response.json() } return response.text(); } function getWidth() { if (Math.max(document.body.scrollWidth,document.documentElement.scrollWidth,document.body.offsetWidth,document.documentElement.offsetWidth,document.documentElement.clientWidth) > 991) { document.getElementById("mob").style.display = "none"; document.getElementById("lgdv").style.display = "block"; } else { document.getElementById("mob").style.display = "block"; document.getElementById("lgdv").style.display = "none"; } } getWidth(); THIS AD SUPPORTS OUR JOURNALISM. SUBSCRIBE FOR MINIMAL ADS.THIS AD SUPPORTS OUR JOURNALISM. SUBSCRIBE FOR MINIMAL ADS.

The study argues that the size of this impacted bundle varies with task structure, sector, regulatory setting, and the economics of AI access itself

By BL Chennai Bureau

Updated - October 26, 2026 at 02:33 PM.

A new white paper on AI’s labour market impact, from Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) researchers, notes that we should assess its ability to automate a bundle of tasks within a job.

Rather than analysing whether AI will take away a job, we should assess its ability to automate a bundle of tasks within a job, a new white paper on AI’s labour market impact, from Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) researchers, notes.

The study has been introduced by the Centre for Responsible AI (CeRAI), an interdisciplinary research group at the institute’s Wadhwani School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (WSAI).

It argues that the size of this impacted bundle varies with task structure, sector, regulatory setting, and the economics of AI access itself. Accordingly, the study categorises the ways people and AI work together into two groups where AI either does most of the tasks and people check the results or people make the decisions and do the work with AI used to make their work easier.

The paper also highlighted an AI-cost geography, particularly pertinent for developing countries like India where cheap, ‘good-enough’ AI diffuses quickly across routine jobs like BPO, bookkeeping, and MSME quality inspection, while frontier-dependent uses such as legal research and diagnostic imaging remain concentrated in urban, enterprise settings.

To ensure that AI has positive implications on the economy and the job market , the paper suggests the promotion of affordable task-focused AI tools, especially for small businesses.It also recommends more investments to be made towards research about AI and jobs in India as well as providing clear ways for workers to move into new jobs as AI is used more.

“This paper challenges the idea that AI always takes away jobs. Most jobs have tasks and only some of those can be undertaken by AI. The effect depends on the tasks, the industry, rules for AI and how much it costs to use AI. We also looked at who gains from these changes and who is affected,” Balaraman Ravindran, Head, CeRAI and WSAI, IIT Madras and one of the authors of the paper said.

The whitepaper was released during a recent Industry Conclave on AI Governance 2026 last week.

Published on October 26, 2026

THIS AD SUPPORTS OUR JOURNALISM. SUBSCRIBE FOR MINIMAL ADS. THIS AD SUPPORTS OUR JOURNALISM. SUBSCRIBE FOR MINIMAL ADS. THIS AD SUPPORTS OUR JOURNALISM. SUBSCRIBE FOR MINIMAL ADS. THIS AD SUPPORTS OUR JOURNALISM. SUBSCRIBE FOR MINIMAL ADS.Sign into Unlock benefits!

• Access 10 free stories per month
• Get notified by email for early preview to new features, discounts & offers