The Centre on Wednesday reiterated its commitment to develop artificial intelligence (AI) for all, on the lines of the digital public infrastructure, even as Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reiterated how the dangers of AI will should be countered globally.
“We in India have understood (how) AI can be a big tool to solve many (of our) problems; simultaneously, we need to contain the risks AI brings,” said Vaishnaw, the Minister for Electronics & IT as well as Railways and I&B, while inaugurating the Global India AI Summit at Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam on Wednesday morning.
“We believe it has to come through a global thought process, it cannot be done in isolation,” he said. The two-day Global India AI Summit being organised by the government is part of the international GPAI network (Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence), the international standards body on the burgeoning sector.
The minister also unveiled India’s blueprint for taking AI to the masses, starting with investing in an AI computing infra of at least 10,000 GPU through a public-private partnership. The government will also create an AI Innovation Centre, which will focus on getting high quality datasets which researchers and startups will use to develop apps relevant to India’s social and economic problems.
The model will be similar to the Digital India infrastructure, where no single company or service provider has a monopoly. “Govt will invest in creating a public platform where computing power is available, high quality data sets are available, a common set of protocols is available (and) a common set of framework (technical as well as legal) is available. (This can be utilised by) startups, entrepreneurs etc who are working on apps for a variety of sectors (like) education, healthcare etc.,” said Vaishnaw.
There will also be an emphasis on skill development by creating specialised courses as per the requirement that AI throws up, in partnership with academia and industry, to define what the course curriculum will be. The minister said the government will also look at how best to provide funds for the deep tech players who will evolve through these efforts, in the crucial period before results start showing and private investors start taking interest.
The two-day international event is also being attended by senior officials from the likes of OpenAI as well as Nvidia, the global poster boy companies of the artificial intelligence revolution.
