This article first appeared in Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on June 9, 2025 - June 15, 2025

Earlier this month, I had the privilege of speaking to around 70 students from various local universities about the future of technology and jobs. I began by telling them they probably weren’t going to like what I was about to say — and that it might even leave them feeling anxious about their future. Perhaps a little dramatic, but I wanted to set the tone and ensure they paid attention instead of getting distracted by their handphones.

Although it may have sounded dramatic, it was the truth. We should be genuinely concerned about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on almost all types of jobs. Initially, roles that are performed digitally will be the first to be affected. Contrary to what some commentators claim — “Don’t worry, AI will not take away your job” — let me state clearly that it will, and this is already happening.

One of the first areas to be affected is customer service, particularly call centre roles. A fintech company I invested in employed five call centre staff, whose main responsibility was handling customer complaints. For instance, if a customer called to report that a payment made for utility services through the platform had not been received or acknowledged by the utility company, the staff member would contact the utility company, also a customer of the fintech platform, and speak to its call centre to resolve the issue. After a couple of calls, the matter would usually be settled.

This company handled thousands of transactions, which justified the need for five call centre staff. The founder began experimenting with AI Agents — software systems capable of learning and performing tasks, including those typically done by call centre staff. Within months, he developed AI Agents that took over the role of making calls to the utility companies to resolve issues. These AI Agents were able to handle 90% of cases without human intervention. In fact, they were so effective that the human call centre staff at the utility companies did not realise they were speaking to a machine. My portfolio company has now replaced all five staff with AI Agents. Five people lost their jobs.

For the past two decades, Malaysia has actively promoted itself as an ideal location for shared services and outsourcing centres. Many multinational companies — including international banks — have set up business process outsourcing operations and call centres in the country, tapping into the local multilingual talent pool. Around 70,000 people are employed in these centres. Within the next three years, 90% of these jobs — particularly in technical support and customer service — are likely to disappear as companies adopt AI Agents.

One of my portfolio companies recently lost a senior programmer. The chief technology officer took two days to decide whether to replace him or use AI tools — and ultimately chose not to hire a replacement. Today, there are numerous tools that can perform coding and programming tasks more quickly than humans. Beyond ChatGPT and Gemini, platforms such as Replit allow users to build apps, software, games and websites without needing to know how to code. Many of these tools can generate code 10 to 50 times faster than a human programmer. As a result, even software development roles are at risk — we simply will not need as many programmers.

One of the students I met was studying game design and animation. There are now dozens of AI tools that can accelerate the game design and animation process. You simply describe what you want, and the AI will code the design or animation in minutes. What used to take months can now be done in days. As a result, gaming companies will probably need to hire only 10% to 20% of the staff they would have needed just three years ago.

Some argue that humans will still be needed for their creativity. In 2022, however, Jason M Allen won first place in the Colorado State Fair Fine Arts Competition in 2022 with his AI-generated piece, Théâtre D’opéra Spatial, using Midjourney. In 2023, Boris Eldagsen submitted a photo to the Sony World Photography Awards and won first place. The image was not captured with a camera; it was generated by DALL-E 2 from OpenAI.

Consider the game of Go, which is highly complex and strategic, and it has played for more than 2,500 years. In 2016, AlphaGo, a Google DeepMind project, defeated Lee Sedol, one of the greatest players of all time. But the real shock came with Move 37 — a completely unexpected and seemingly impossible play that stunned experts. An AI created a move that no grandmaster had ever imagined. That was nine years ago, and AI has progressed tremendously since then.

These examples challenge the claim that only humans are capable of creativity. AI has already proven otherwise.

If you are working in content creation, web design or digital marketing, those jobs are already under threat. Anything digital can — and will — be done by AI. Even roles such as Grab or bus drivers are on the chopping block as autonomous vehicles become a reality. Surgery is now being performed by robots — currently with assistance from doctors, but full automation may arrive within five years. Cars are being built by machines, too.

Will we still need teachers? A friend of mine co-founded an AI mathematics tutoring platform, tupai.ai, which was set up because so many students struggle with maths in school. They have shown that students using the platform can significantly improve their performance. What teachers often struggle to achieve — helping students pass their maths exams — tupai.ai can. So, do we still need maths teachers? Or could students simply rely on AI tools? It seems likely. And if it works for maths, could it not also apply to other subjects? I believe it will.

Every job and profession will be affected by AI. Anyone who says otherwise is delusional. And those who claim that better-quality jobs will emerge for displaced workers are living in the same fantasy. The examples I’ve shared clearly show that massive job losses are on the horizon. Instead of burying our heads in the sand, we need to face this reality and act.

We should start teaching children how to use these tools — there are so many of them. No matter the subject, teachers should incorporate AI tools to enhance lessons, make learning more interactive and ensure students gain mastery over them. The same applies to universities. STEM subjects, in particular, can be significantly improved with AI. Yet, I don’t believe most universities are equipping students with the tools they need to compete in an AI-driven world. Instead, the debate seems fixated on stopping students from using ChatGPT. It’s reminiscent of when students were once told to solve maths problems in their heads instead of using calculators. The calculator won.

Keeping up with AI developments isn’t easy. Something new seems to emerge every week. But we must keep up — especially in schools and universities. Otherwise, we’ll end up with a workforce unequipped for the future, stuck doing jobs that AI will inevitably take over.

Needless to say, the 70 students in my session left more worried about their future — but also more eager to learn about AI to ensure they will not be left behind.

AI is scary. But it is also the future. We must not avoid it. We must embrace it, learn it, use it and become comfortable with it — so that we control AI, and not the other way around.

Dr Sivapalan Vivekarajah is co-founder and senior partner at ScaleUp Malaysia Accelerator (scaleup.my) and adjunct professor at Sunway University’s School of Science and Technology. He is also the author of Supercharge Your Startup Valuation.

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