India can Lead Global Convergence on AI
India played host to the recent showpiece Global Partnership on AI (GPAI) Summit 2023. Close on the heels of the Global meet on AI safety held in the UK, the GPAI had a resounding participation from 28 member nations and the European Union. Experts and industry veterans also attended this AI meet that brainstormed on every facet of AI, from innovation to regulation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi set the correct narrative, noting that the summit was being held when the entire world was debating AI. Today, no country, big or small, is impervious to the impact of AI, and every country should act with caution while moving ahead on AI. This cutting-edge technology is transformative, but nations must make it transparent. The Prime Minister has underscored the need for countries to converge efforts to prepare a global framework for the ethical use of AI.
AI’s growth is borderless, and siloed efforts will not help its ethical and responsible development. Nations need convergence to battle AI’s pitfalls. India is well-positioned to create that coveted convergence. With its G20 Presidency, India has already built a consensus on ‘Responsible Human-Centric AI Governance.’ Building on this diplomatic milestone, India can rally around nations to collectively combat challenges stemming from AI like deepfakes, cybersecurity, and data theft.
India has made some excellent strides in AI democratization and inclusivity. AI Index Report 2023, an independent initiative at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, recognized India for releasing its National AI strategy (2018). The report also factored in other parameters like an increased number of AI publications, AI applications, machine learning systems, contributions to large language and multimodal models, GitHub AI projects contributed by software developers in the country, AI hiring, AI skill penetration (cross-gender), private AI investments, and more government AI implementations.
At 3.2, India has the highest skills penetration among all nations. This metric indicates the spread of various AI-related skills across occupations.
India is no longer a laggard when it comes to building indigenous AI capabilities. The launch of Krutrim (meaning Artificial in Sanskrit), the Large Language Model (LLM) by Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal has stormed India into the Global AI innovation league. Krutrim can emerge as India’s challenger to ChatGPT. It has been trained on more than two trillion tokens and is capable of generating content in 10 Indic languages. The AI story for India is unravelling, and it is getting bigger and better.
According to Accenture, AI can potentially add $1 trillion to India’s economy in 2035. Beyond its growth, India can take on the Global AI leadership mantle on crucial parameters. As a developing and emerging economy, India provides an ideal global platform for enterprises and institutions to build scalable solutions. India’s National AI strategy paper positions the country as an ‘AI Garage’ where an AI solution can be designed for solving problems in 40 percent of the world. For example, an AI-powered healthcare solution can be replicated in Africa and Southeast Asia. India can wrest the initiative in developing AI-enabled systems for Universal Health Coverage, workflow in healthcare operations, diagnostics, and drug discovery, AI assistance for healthcare professionals, ethical aspects of deploying AI in healthcare, challenges faced by countries, and public-private synergies.
India also has a proven track record as a technology solution provider of choice, which adds to its potential as an AI leader. Solved in India (or, more accurately, solved by Indian IT companies) could be the model for Artificial Intelligence as a Service (AIaaS) going forward. IT companies in India have been pioneers in bringing technology globally as solutions.
India’s Digital Payments Infrastructure (DPI) and its roaring success in digital payments are replicable success models. In the future, India can think of embedding AI into its DPI to make it even more inclusive and widespread.
With its talent pool, cultural diversity, and enviable technological prowess, India can create a global convergence in AI. Investing in research and development, fostering collaborative innovation, and prioritizing ethical AI frameworks can help India become a beacon for inclusive, sustainable AI. The nation can set a transformative precedent for AI on a global scale if it bridges the AI divide and champions responsible AI practices. Technology advances will align with societal well-being, setting a harmonious convergence.
