FROM HUMAN TO ALGORITHMS: Social and Legal Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Employment in India

Abstract

"A machine can now hire a worker, rate a worker and remove a worker, but it cannot be asked why."Artificial intelligence is affecting Indian workers in two ways, and the law has dealt with only one of them.The first is job loss. The Economic Survey 2024-25, in its chapter "Labour in the AI Era: Crisis or Catalyst?",found that middle and lower-wage workers doing routine service jobs are most at risk. It warned that acountry with a surplus of labour cannot afford long periods of unemployment.The second is control. AI now screens job applicants, assigns work, rates performance and, on platforms,removes workers altogether. The four Labour Codes, in force from 21 November 2025, recognise gig andplatform workers for the first time and extend social security to them, a workforce NITI Aayog projectswill reach 23.5 million by 2029-30. But the Codes say nothing about the algorithm that decides what theseworkers earn.This article argues that this silence is built into the law, not accidental. Indian labour law assumes a humanemployer who can be asked to explain a decision. When software takes that employer's place, the workeris protected only when thrown out, never before. The article examines the Constitution, the Labour Codes,the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, andthen the State laws of Rajasthan, Karnataka and Telangana. Karnataka goes furthest, requiring writtenreasons and notice before removal, along with transparency and non-discrimination in automatedsystems.The article concludes that no new law is needed. The rule-making powers already available under theLabour Codes are enough to bring the required reform.