MPW 2022: 'AI built by humans, we will figure out how to use them,' says HCL Tech's Roshni Nadar 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is built by humans and people will figure out how to use this technology to their advantage, HCL Technologies chairperson Roshni Nadar said on Wednesday. She downplayed the fears around AI, which is said to be becoming smarter than humans, putting lakhs of jobs across industries at risk. 

Nadar, however, said that AI is a great opportunity for humans. "It is going to lead to not just automation but also different kind of skills. One thing that the tech industry does quite well is always looking at future technologies and future skills. But this is coming faster than we can blink," she said while speaking at Business Today's 19th edition of 'The Most Powerful Women in Business' event in Mumbai on Wednesday. 

When asked about how her company is preparing, she said humans have always lived with technological inflections. "We were having a similar conversation when the calculators came. People thought that they would not be able to do the math, but we have come through that. Then the internet came, and we thought now kids will be using the internet all the time and they are going to be learning in school. We have learned to work with it."

"Even with the advent of AI, it is in an early stage with use cases. But at least in our industry, I'm sure there will be a lot of applications and opportunities around it - perhaps a lot more automation. But AI was built by humans. I think we will be smarter than them. We will figure out how to use it to our advantage," she added. 

Roshni Nadar, the daughter of HCL founder Shiv Nadar, was appointed as chairperson of the company in July 2020. When asked whether she enjoys what she does, Nadar said: "I love HCL. They don't expect men to emote. Why do they expect me to emote? It's the chair's job, and I'm doing a job and enjoying it."  She also talked about whether she feels the pressure of being compared with her father Shiv Nadar. "Where I stand is where I sit. I am sitting in a room with them (peers). Let them be worried," she said.

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