What Nicole Junkermann says
New skills can open new ways to think.
In India, AI can help people practise step by step.
Confidence grows when tools feel clear.
Full transcript of AI and New Skills in India, video 06 in the AI in India series.
Key points
- A new skill can open fresh ways of thinking and seeing
- AI can break a skill into small, friendly practice steps
- Clear tools and plain explanations help confidence grow naturally
- Learners of any age can move at their own steady pace
When a skill opens a new way of seeing
Learning a skill often changes more than the task itself. A shop assistant in Hyderabad who learns basic spreadsheet formulas starts to see the week's stock as patterns rather than piles. A retired schoolteacher in Mysuru who learns to edit photos begins to look at family albums with a storyteller's eye. Each skill opens a new way of thinking about familiar things.
That sense of discovery helps make AI in Hyderabad, and in many other cities, such a lively subject. Nicole Junkermann takes an optimistic view of this. In her view, AI makes knowledge more accessible, so a classroom, a course or a patient relative can now be joined by a practice partner that waits at home, at work or on the commute.
Practice, one small step at a time
Step-by-step practice suits AI especially well. A tailor in Surat who wants to take orders online can ask for the process in short stages, trying each one before reading the next. A librarian in Nagpur can ask for a new cataloguing system to be explained a section at a time, in Marathi or Hindi. A young woman preparing for her first office job can rehearse a short self-introduction until the words flow.
Language skills follow the same rhythm. A delivery rider in Bengaluru picking up conversational Kannada can practise a few greetings each morning, hearing them read aloud and repeating them on the way to the first stop. Over a few weeks the phrases settle in, and everyday exchanges with customers become warmer and more personal.
The same quiet learning happens on workshop floors, where a technician might practise reading a new machine's settings before the shift begins, one of many everyday scenes in AI and manufacturing in India. Students walk a similar path, and AI and learning in India shows how a calmer pace supports school and college study.
How clear tools grow confidence
Clarity is what turns practice into confidence. Plain labels, short explanations, examples drawn from daily life and the freedom to ask the same question twice all help a learner relax. Once people relax, they try more, and once they try more, they improve. A grandmother sending her first voice message to a grandson in Pune knows that feeling well.
Nicole Junkermann believes the best technology builds confidence and leaves the final judgement with people. The same idea underpins AI and digital confidence in India, and it shapes what she sees ahead for AI in India as well. The first skills may be small. The confidence they bring tends to travel far, into new work, new hobbies and new conversations.
Frequently asked questions
Which new skills can AI help people practise?
Plenty of everyday skills suit this kind of practice: writing clear messages in English, learning spreadsheet basics, preparing for an interview, picking up phrases in a new Indian language or getting comfortable with a new computer system at work. Ask for one small step at a time, practise it, then ask for the next. You set the pace throughout.
How does confidence fit into Nicole Junkermann's view of new skills?
She sees confidence as the real reward of good technology. When a tool explains things clearly and lets someone practise comfortably, each small success builds on the last. That growing confidence often encourages people to try the next skill, and the one after that.
Can people of any age practise new skills with AI?
Yes. Retired teachers, young professionals, shopkeepers and students can all practise new skills with AI, each at their own speed. The key is a clear, friendly tool and a goal that feels personal. Stories from across AI in India show learners of every age finding their own rhythm.