Amid rising apprehensions that expanded use of artificial intelligence could lead to massive job losses, Comptroller and Auditor General of India GC Murmu today said that the scenario does not call for an alarmist reaction. He said that there is unlikely to be any significant threat in relation to job loss as is being feared and that the human mind cannot be replaced.

“This is an area which is currently evolving..so I do not know exactly what will the situation be but I don’t think there is anything to worry about. There was huge resistance from several quarters way  back when computers were being introduced. Today we can safely say that computers have not taken away our jobs,” Murmu said on the sidelines of the G20-Supreme Audit Institutions’ summit in Goa.

Murmu said that the CAG is putting in place all effective mechanisms to be future-ready to handle AI. The CAG added that the audit watchdog has been continuously upgrading its IT infrastructure to keep pace with the rapidly changing contours of AI.

Murmu added that the CAG has already proposed to the Centre to tweak the recruitment process for civil servants joining the regulatory watchdog.

“We have already proposed to the government.. some exercise is going on, for change in recruitment rules, so that we can make IT proficiency a priority in the recruitment eligibility,” he said.

“I’m taking it up with the DoPT (Department of Personnel and Training) and the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) to approve this proposal. I cannot make it compulsory for the existing staff right now. But the future ready capacity will be there,” the CAG said.

Meanwhile, CAG’s end-to-end digital audits from this year are expected to help in improving accuracy of accounting.

Murmu, who chaired the SAI20 summit, assured that AIs that are being used here “are very secure”. “We can vouch for data integrity,” he said.

A key reason for setting up the SAI 20 last year under Indonesia’s chair was to enable the audit regulators to be “future-ready” amid rapidly changing audit environments amid technology and rising global challenges.

Responsible AI and blue economy were the two thrust areas of focus of the SAIs under India’s presidency.

SAIs members from 13 other G20 nations including, Australia, Brazil, Korea, Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey among others participated in the summit. Members from Bangladesh, Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco and Oman were present too as guests.

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