We need to adopt AI and accelerate it across all sectors, says Amitabh Kant

India today is well-positioned to become a global leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and there is a need to adopt it across all sectors, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said on Monday. Addressing a virtual FICCI event, Kant further said the government has a crucial role to play in positioning India as the ‘tech garage’ of the world. “India today is well positioned to become a global leader in Artificial Intelligence… We need to adopt AI and accelerate it across all sectors,” he said.

Kant also said AI has been catalysing leadership in the last few years, and it is a game changer. Noting that India has the third largest startup ecosystem in the world, he said, “We have the talent and now data system to build AI ecosystems.” Kant said India is now a data-rich country and must become a more data-intelligent nation. Stressing on the need to publish more papers by Indian researchers, he said,”Our computing infrastructure has to catch up.” The Niti Aayog CEO further said AI will have a very critical impact on the defence sector and prove to be crucial technology for air warriors.

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India’s large geographical diversity presents unique developmental challenges in areas like education, healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure and transportation, he pointed out. “For India to maximise the effective leveraging of AI tools, we need to cultivate and harness our biggest asset which is the human capital. The New Education Policy is a great enabler with special emphasis on skills,” he said. Kant said the government will play the role as a catalyst in bringing together the synergies of the private sector for innovations. For the use of AI in the defence sector, there needs to be more collaboration between the private sector, government and academic institutions, Kant added.