THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It seems machines replacing humans is not science fiction anymore. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the buzzword now in the IT field and many companies have started imparting training for employees in AI.Anoj Pillai , chief architect of UST Global ’s first, spoke at length about how AI was changing the world, at the company’s developer’s conference. Observing that AI would replace 80% of IT helpdesk, he said, “Labour-centric services will be wiped off eventually. For example, a person who attends a customer’s call could be replaced by a machine. It is not going to change the employee. Only his profile will change,” he said.He further said that 50 % of all new investments in the IT sector would be for digital offering that has AI as a component. He said infrastructure must be updated to handle multiple data. “Traditional computers use CPU, which cannot execute machine learning. Now CPUs are making way for GPUs ( Graphics Processing Unit ) which enables deep learning techniques. Firms like Nvidia have started stepping into machine learning. It processes machine learning workloads 20-30 % effective than CPUs,” he said.When asked about the confidentiality of data used for AI, Pillai said the company utilizes data as per its policies and that anonymity was maintained. “Millennials are not concern about privacy. They are open to share data, provided it is not misused. They want better service. India is liberal in privacy perspectives,” he said.The two-day conference – D3 hackathon – concluded on Friday. The company is planning to make it an annual event and ensure participation of college students from next edition.