IIT Madras White Paper Advises Evaluating AI Impact at the Task Level Rather Than Entire Jobs

A new white paper by researchers at IIT Madras suggests assessing AI's labour market impact by looking at its ability to automate bundles of tasks within a job. Released by the Centre for Responsible AI, the study highlights how task structure, sector, and AI costs shape employment outcomes in developing economies like India.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) have released a new white paper examining the impact of artificial intelligence on the labour market. According to the study, the evaluation of AI should focus on its ability to automate specific bundles of tasks within a job, rather than analyzing whether AI will eliminate entire occupations.

The study was introduced by the Centre for Responsible AI (CeRAI), an interdisciplinary research group operating under the institute’s Wadhwani School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (WSAI). The paper was made public during the Industry Conclave on AI Governance 2026 held last week.

The findings indicate that the size of the impacted task bundle varies depending on several factors, including task structure, industry sector, regulatory settings, and the overall economics of AI access. The research categorises human-AI collaboration into two primary models: one where AI performs the majority of tasks and humans review the results, and another where humans make decisions and execute work with AI serving as a support tool.

Addressing the economic context of developing nations, the paper highlights an 'AI-cost geography'. In markets like India, affordable and adequate AI solutions tend to diffuse quickly across routine roles such as BPO operations, bookkeeping, and quality inspection for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Conversely, frontier-dependent applications—such as legal research and diagnostic imaging—remain largely concentrated in urban and enterprise settings.

To foster positive economic and employment outcomes, the white paper outlines several recommendations. It suggests promoting affordable, task-focused AI tools tailored for small businesses. Additionally, the authors recommend increasing investments in research concerning AI and employment dynamics in India, alongside establishing clear pathways for workforce transition as AI adoption grows.

Balaraman Ravindran, Head of CeRAI and WSAI at IIT Madras, and one of the authors of the paper, stated, "This paper challenges the idea that AI always takes away jobs. Most jobs have tasks and only some of those can be undertaken by AI. The effect depends on the tasks, the industry, rules for AI and how much it costs to use AI. We also looked at who gains from these changes and who is affected."

"The IIT Madras study offers a realistic perspective on how artificial intelligence will shape the labour market. For founders and business leaders, understanding AI at a task level rather than a job level is critical for operational planning. As affordable AI tools increasingly penetrate sectors like MSMEs and BPOs, businesses must focus on strategic workforce transitions and targeted technology adoption to remain competitive while supporting employee growth." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes