• By Sakshi Srivastava
  • Tue, 22 Jul 2025 10:33 AM (IST)
  • Source:JND
Add as a preferred

Perplexity: Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas has a clear message for the younger generation: reduce social media time and focus on mastering artificial intelligence tools. Speaking to tech YouTuber Matthew Berman, Srinivas emphasized that in the rapidly evolving job market, AI fluency is becoming a critical skill.

“Spend less time doomscrolling on Instagram; spend more time using the AIs,” he said, underlining that those proficient in AI will be “way more employable” than those who aren’t. He warned that failure to adapt could lead to professional irrelevance as AI systems continue to reshape the workforce.

Srinivas noted that while previous generations had time to adapt to industrial and digital revolutions, today’s tech—especially AI—moves at a much faster pace. “The human race has never been extremely fast at adapting,” he said, adding that the current rate of innovation, with AI tools evolving every three to six months, is “testing the limits” of adaptability.

AI And Job Displacement

Srinivas didn’t shy away from acknowledging that AI is likely to displace certain jobs. He predicts some workers will struggle to keep up, especially as tools like Perplexity’s own AI system, Comet, are designed to automate tasks traditionally done by recruiters—such as sourcing candidates, scheduling interviews, and tracking progress across platforms.

On The Verge’s “Decoder” podcast, Srinivas described how a recruiter’s week-long work could soon be compressed into a single AI prompt. "You want it to keep following up, keep a track of their responses... update the Google Sheets, mark the status as responded or in progress... sync with my Google calendar... schedule a chat, and then push me a brief ahead of the meeting. Some of these things should be proactive. It doesn't even have to be a prompt," he said.

ALSO READ: How Indian-Origin Founder Aravind Srinivas Built Perplexity Into An 18 Billion Dollars Google Challenger

Despite these advances, Srinivas sees a silver lining: entrepreneurship. He argued that displaced workers must either become founders themselves or join new-age companies equipped with AI tools. “Either the other people who lose jobs end up starting companies themselves and make use of AIs, or they end up learning the AIs and contribute to new companies,” he said.

Industry Divided Over AI’s Impact On Employment

Srinivas’ views echo growing concerns in the tech industry about AI-induced job disruptions. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has predicted that AI could eliminate up to 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs in the next five years. Geoffrey Hinton, often called the "godfather of AI," has warned that automation will replace humans in “mundane intellectual labor.”

ALSO READ: Perplexity AI Targets Mobile Market With Comet Browser Preload Strategy

However, not all tech leaders share this pessimism. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang believes AI will augment human jobs rather than eliminate them. In his view, AI will reshape roles, giving workers new tools rather than rendering them obsolete.


Also In News