India can become the AI capital of the world because of the talent pool, says Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran. He believes artificial intelligence can shape the future and direction of the country.
Speaking at the RAISE Summit, Chandrasekaran said India clearly has the potential to become the AI capital of the world. He said that if the country is able to solve the problems using AI, then the solutions can spread to developing as well as developed nations. The executive also highlighted challenges. “On the one hand, solving the access challenge to make every service like healthcare, education available to every citizen irrespective of the place where they live,” Chandrasekaran said. “The other challenge is to provide meaningful and productive futuristic jobs for the vast population of India.”
The National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence (NSAI) had earlier highlighted the potential for AI in boosting India’s annual growth rate by 1.3 per cent points by 2035. As such, the government is looking to use AI for various applications including resolving language barriers that people of the country face while communicating, enhancing agricultural productivity, among others.
Chandrasekaran said AI and AI-based solutions, tools and technologies should not be put to use for the elite, instead it should be used for the common man. He explained that the vision should not be centered around software professionals and data scientists and other white collar workers. “Our vision should include farmers, truck drivers, shop keepers, teachers and everyone else,” the executive said. “As the world’s largest democracy and as a place where data is getting created at such a high volume, I think India should seize the opportunity to lead this globally.”
PwC research had shown that Indians look forward to artificial intelligence, especially machine learning, virtual private assistants and decision support systems.
