Chatbots, AI news readers: Asia embraces automation despite job loss fears

Asian nations are adopting AI across industries, but experts warn that without safeguards, they can lead to staff cuts and inequality. — Photo by Charanjeet Dhiman on Unsplash

MUMBAI/MANILA: Indian entrepreneur Suumit Shah took to Twitter last month to describe his experience with generative artificial intelligence: “We had to layoff 90% of our support team because of this AI chatbot. Tough? Yes. Necessary? Absolutely.”

With the chatbot, queries to his ecommerce site dukaan.com took just over three minutes to resolve from more than two hours earlier, and customer support costs fell by about 85%, said Shah, the chief executive.