Daijiworld Media Network – California
California, Oct 13: Amid growing concerns over job losses due to artificial intelligence, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian has assured that AI is meant to empower humans, not replace them.
Speaking to Big Technology, Kurian said AI helps employees perform better by taking over mundane and repetitive tasks, allowing people to focus on creative thinking and better decision-making.
He cited Google’s Customer Engagement Suite, an AI-powered customer service platform, as an example. The system handles minor customer queries, freeing up human agents for complex issues. “When we launched it, there were fears of job loss, but almost none of our clients let anyone go,” he noted.
Kurian acknowledged that fears around automation will persist as AI evolves, but he believes “there is definitely a middle ground.”
Earlier in June, Google CEO Sundar Pichai had also stated that AI had improved engineers’ productivity by 10%, noting that the company plans to hire more people as AI expands new opportunities rather than shrinking jobs.
Supporting this view, Goldman Sachs projected that while AI adoption could cause a temporary rise in unemployment by about 0.5%, the overall impact on employment will remain modest and short-term. Occupations more likely to be affected include programmers, accountants, and customer service representatives.
Kurian reiterated that AI’s true purpose is to “enhance human potential, not eliminate it.”