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The Privilege of Exposure: Caste and Generative AI in India's Graduate Labour Market

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  • Kaibalyapati Mishra

Abstract

Who is exposed to generative AI in a developing-country labour market? We map three occupational AI-exposure indices to India's redesigned Periodic Labour Force Survey (2025) and document a steep caste gradient among 83,000 employed graduates: graduates from the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes are 0.24--0.37 standard deviations less exposed than upper-caste graduates within the same district. Two channels drive the gap: one in four SC and one in three ST graduates work in farm or elementary occupations untouched by AI, and those in white-collar work are underrepresented in managerial, software, and finance occupations. Because exposure commands a wage premium of up to 20 per cent, generative AI stands to widen, not narrow, India's caste earnings gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Kaibalyapati Mishra, 2026. "The Privilege of Exposure: Caste and Generative AI in India's Graduate Labour Market," Papers 2606.13314, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2026.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2606.13314
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    References listed on IDEAS

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