Need for capacity development in AI sector

- India is the second largest producer of digital data in the world. Only China is ahead of it

India needs to develop sovereign capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI, said IBM Chairman Arvind Krishna. Indian policy makers should take their advice seriously. The use of AI, especially machine learning and deep learning, has grown rapidly in recent years. These applications range from e-commerce recommendations to self-driving cars. Generative AI models can come up with options and answers from creating new content, answering questions in natural language, finding trends in large amounts of data, and discovering drugs to producing videos and audios, they can revolutionize. It may have had a more profound impact on the world economy and society than any other technology in the recent past.

Many Indian companies are entering the field of generative AI with great enthusiasm. They include information technology giants Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys and a dozen startups. But so far no Indian company has talked about preparing its base model. Indian technology companies and the Indian government are also focusing more on the application sector. Several branches of the Indian government have already started creating programs to build specific data sets and cloud computing infrastructure and new applications. It would be a mistake to rely primarily on applications. India should also develop capabilities that help build new, indigenous basic AI models.

AI is a general purpose technology (GPT), and GPT dramatically changes the balance of power in society and business. Countries that dominate GPTs become technology colonizers, while countries that depend on others for access to these technologies become technology colonies. While the US is at the forefront of digital and other technologies, China has also been working hard over the past decade to develop sovereign capabilities in many technological areas and move from AI to genomics. India has generally focused on the applications and services sector.

Talking about AI capabilities, especially in the area of ​​advanced technologies like generative AI models, it will not be easy for India to do so as it may be a late starter in this direction. University research programs in the United States and Canada and technology companies such as OpenAI, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Anthropic and others have invested heavily in advanced AI research. In China, many startups have created their own generative AI models, and the Chinese government has long prioritized AI research. European countries have lagged behind America and Europe, but research institutes in France, Germany and other European countries are developing their own Transformers and other AI models that can challenge American-made models. India needs clear planning and proper implementation to move ahead in this area. One option is for the Indian government to take the lead and set up a National AI Computing Center. But there is another model that we saw in the original charter of Open AI.

Major IT companies in India can also jointly fund an AI research institute created by OpenAI. This would mean setting aside market competition to work towards the long-term common good. If the latter model were to be followed, the government would have to create policies that would allow the U.S. And bring the best people working for AI research in Europe to India. An important role in building China's strong AI program was played by China's best engineers and AI researchers.