Sunil Gupta, chief executive officer and co-founder of Yotta Data Services Pvt., takes part in a … [+]
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionized education in the Global South, and offers opportunities for many countries leapfrog in developing new educational systems, especially in rural areas. The potential for AI is nowhere more apparent than in India, with its population of 1.4 billion speaking 22 officially recognized languages. Developing new AI systems trained on India’s many languages to meet the nation’s social and developmental needs is an urgent priority for its government. The public and private sector are together moving full speed ahead to develop AI for India.
Government AI Initiatives
The Indian government’s multifaceted approach includes building an AI ecosystem that leverages resources in higher education, research and industry. India’s National AI Skilling Framework recommends AI courses for students starting in 6th gradeto train over 1 million new data science professionals needed each year. New organizations including Future Skills Prime, NPTEL and the Center of Development for Advanced Computing (CDAC), are developing a wide range of AI courses for schools and for adult learners. While Europe has a highly regulated AI sector, India is developing broad guidelines for ethical and socially beneficial AI use. The Indian National Strategy for AI was developed in 2018 by the National Institute for Transforming India Commission (NITI) Aayog, a public policy think tank, to guide AI development to advance five key strategic sectors – healthcare, agriculture, education, and developing “smart” cities and infrastructure in India.
Indian AI EdTech and Startups
A flourishing EdTech and startup AI sector, boosted by India’s already strong foothold in IT and computer hardware, is building out new Indian AI systems, often in partnership with universities. Reliance Industries, Ltd, has funded the development of a new Jio Institute for AI and data science education, as well as an AI Data center to develop local AI models. Reliance is offering 100 GB of free cloud storage to users across the country to help new startup ventures. Univitt Technologies has partnered with the newly established Universal AI University and the NVIDIA corporation is developing new AI programs with the Tharpar Institute of Engineering and Technology. A huge new computing center near Mumbai, operated by the startup Yottawill power AI systems across India with thousands of the latest GPU chips. Other AI startups, such as Sarvam AIare developing models in 10 Indian languages and Karyais collecting multilingual speech data and providing employment in rural India in support of new AI models.
AI focused Universities
India’s rapid growth has provided a “batch” of new universities, and many new institutions are focusing on AI and emerging technologies. The Universal AI University, mentioned earlier, was founded in 2023 as “India’s first dedicated AI-led university,” to integrate AI into all of its subjects with experiential learning based on strong connections with industry. Mahindra Universityestablished in 2014, has an AI Center of Excellence with an NVIDIA powered supercomputer for advanced AI applications. The AI4Bharat lab at IIT Chennaiis building new language models from voice recordings compiled in all 22 of India’s official languages.
The Jio Institute and Future-Proof AI Education
One of the most interesting new AI-focused universities is the Jio Instituteestablished in 2022 near Mumbai as a philanthropic initiative of Reliance Industries, Ltd., owned by Mukesh Ambani, the #12 wealthiest individual in the world according to Forbes. Reliance and its Jio cell phone company hold 40% of India’s market share and serve 470 million customers, offering access across all parts of India to broadband internet and AI services.
The Jio Institute’s innovative postgraduate programs are built from scratch to leverage rapid advances in AI to train its students for leadership roles in building India’s AI infrastructure. Shailesh Kumar, the Dean of Jio’s AI and data science program, in a recent interview described the Jio program as “very industry relevant and future proof.” Kumar’s program is focusing on “high-tech skills” with an awareness that “the way they have to be taught in the future will be very different than the way they are being taught in the traditional colleges.”
Kumar’s background includes education at India’s elite IIT BHU, followed by graduate work at the University of Texas, and founding a company using AI for personalized math instruction. His background also includes experience at Google and the Indian rideshare company Ola, something like India’s Uber. Kumar brings the best of Indian and US education and industry experience to the Jio Institute. He notes that he has “played the role of a research scientist, as an applied scientist, as a modeling expert, as a business leader” and is “amalgamating all those skills that are needed in all these roles and bringing a lot of industry view into the academic program.” Kumar expects the Jio Institute AI program will be “agile,” “neither too theoretical and academic nor too shallow and industrial,” and will “evolve with the times.”
The Jio Institute draws faculty from across the world in both corporate and academic sectors to train students “systems and solutions thinking,” according to Kumar. Faculty typically are in residence on Jio’s new campus, where students can take three immersive courses at a time, and have opportunities to “have dinner with them, brainstorm ideas, evening walks” and to learn “beyond just classrooms” as “faculty talk about their life stories,” according to Kumar. The Jio institute also hosts the Centre of AI for Allfocused on applying AI to advance India’s development. Kumar believes that “while AI will do a lot for India, India will do a lot more for AI in the next decade.”
AI in India for Health, Agriculture and Education
Progress is being made across India using AI to meet urgent needs in health, agriculture and education. A cellphone based AI system enables early diagnosis for retinopathya diabetes-linked disease that is estimated to affect 17% of India’s population over aged 50. Early diagnosis can enable millions of patients the promise of earlier treatment. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has funded an AI agriculture initiative in Telangana state where 7000 farmers have demonstrated a 21% increase in crop yields, with reduced use of fertilizer and water, and the program will now scale up to reach 500,000 farmers. Using smart phones, AI is helping Indian teachers advance their digital skills and providing personalized tutoring in remote rural regions.
The impacts will reach well beyond India. These pioneering approaches to using AI to revolutionize medicine, agriculture, and education can be adapted by many other developing countries, to help improve life for the 80% of the people of the world living in the Global South.
