The ‘bot coolie ’ trap

Back in the early 2000s, Indian IT workers engaged in low-end, repetitive, and routine tasks – especially in call centres and BPOs – were often described as cyber coolies. Is this infamous term raising its head in the age of AI too? As bot coolies? Despite a large and growing pool of engineers and tech talent, the tech industry has lagged in creating foundational models. Many IT companies are more focused on applied/custom AI services than cutting-edge foundational research. A lot of their work is about building and deploying AI solutions for clients, rather than doing pure research.