Title: How Robots Stole Our Jobs: Struggles of Suzuki Workers in the Age of AI

Author: Nandita Haksar

Publisher: Aakar Books

Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are no longer the stuff of science fiction; they have become a part of our everyday lives. India now ranks among the fastest-growing AI economies in the world [it just hosted the AI Impact Summit, 16-20 February, attended by several heads of state]. With the growing threat of displacement and disruption by AI and new technologies, however, should we, Indian citizens, be proud or should we be alarmed?

Our government, like all governments around the world, paints a rosy picture of our AI-powered future. Take, for example, NITI Aayog’s report, ‘AI for Inclusive Societal Development’ (October 2025), which promises that AI will empower India’s 490 million informal workers by expanding access to healthcare, education, skilling and financial inclusion.

The report highlights how AI-driven tools can boost productivity and resilience for millions who form the backbone of India’s economy. The report also stresses that technology can bridge deep social and economic divides, ensuring that the benefits of AI reach every citizen. The Union Cabinet approved the India AI Mission in March 2024, with a budget outlay of Rs 10,371.92 crore over five years. A NITI Aayog report estimates that AI could add between US$ 500 and 600 billion to India’s GDP by 2035.

Geoffrey Hinton, the 2024 Nobel Prize–winning computer scientist known as the ‘godfather of Artificial Intelligence’, has warned that AI may wipe out millions of jobs, while emphasising that the real danger does not lie with the technology, but with how society wants to deploy it. Hinton warns that AI systems might be able to control humans just as easily as an adult can bribe a three-year-old child with candy.

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