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India, being the fastest growing economy with the second largest population in the world, has a significant stake in the AI revolution.
Recognising AI’s potential to transform economies and the need for India to
strategise its approach, Hon’ble Finance Minister, in his budget speech for 2018 – 2019, mandated NITI Aayog to establish the National Program on AI, with a view to guiding the research and development in new and emerging technologies.
India’s national think-tank, the NITI Ayog, last June 2018 released a discussion paper on the transformative potential of AI in India that said the country could add $1 trillion to its economy through integrating AI into its economy.
NITI Aayog has decided to focus on five sectors that are envisioned to benefit the most from AI in solving societal needs:
a) Healthcare: increased access and affordability of quality healthcare,
b) Agriculture: enhanced farmers’ income, increased farm productivity and reduction of wastage,
c) Education: improved access and quality of education,
d) Smart Cities and Infrastructure: efficient and connectivity for the burgeoning urban population,
and
e) Smart Mobility and Transportation: smarter and safer modes of transportation and better traffic and congestion problems.
a) Healthcare: increased access and affordability of quality healthcare,
b) Agriculture: enhanced farmers’ income, increased farm productivity and reduction of wastage,
c) Education: improved access and quality of education,
d) Smart Cities and Infrastructure: efficient and connectivity for the burgeoning urban population,
and
e) Smart Mobility and Transportation: smarter and safer modes of transportation and better traffic and congestion problems.
AI refers to the ability of machines to perform cognitive tasks like thinking, perceiving, learning, problem solving and decision making.
Initially conceived as a technology that could mimic human intelligence, AI has evolved in ways that far exceed its original conception.
With incredible advances made in data collection, processing and computation power, intelligent systems can now be deployed to take over a variety of tasks, enable connectivity and enhance productivity.
As AI’s capabilities have dramatically expanded, so have its utility in a growing number of fields.
India’s AI research Institutions
a) Centre of Research Excellence (CORE) focused on developing better understanding of existing core research and pushing technology frontiers through creation of new knowledge.
India’s AI research Institutions
a) Centre of Research Excellence (CORE) focused on developing better understanding of existing core research and pushing technology frontiers through creation of new knowledge.
b) International Centers of Transformational AI (ICTAI) with a mandate of developing and deploying application-based research. Private sector collaboration is envisioned to be a key aspect of ICTAIs.
National AI Marketplace (NAIM)
The barriers to AI development and deployment can effectively be addressed by adopting the marketplace model, one that enables market discovery of not only the price but also of different approaches that are best suited to achieve the desired results.
The barriers to AI development and deployment can effectively be addressed by adopting the marketplace model, one that enables market discovery of not only the price but also of different approaches that are best suited to achieve the desired results.
A three-pronged, formal marketplace could be created focusing on data collection and aggregation, data annotation and deployable models. There could be a common platform called the National AI Marketplace (NAIM).
India ranks third in the world in terms of high quality research publications in artificial intelligence (AI) but is at a significant distance from world leader China, according to an analysis by research agency Itihaasa, which was founded by Kris Gopalakrishnan, former CEO and co-founder of Infosys.