Introduction:

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the branch of computer science concerned with making computers behave like humans. AI refers to the ability of machines to perform cognitive tasks like thinking, perceiving, learning, problem solving and decision

Artificial Intelligence (AI) brings in a host of real-world applications which had earlier merely been a subject of science fiction novels or movies. The breakthroughs such as the Weather Company’s to be launched, the GRAF model capable of predicting a thunderstorm virtually anywhere on the planet every hour and other such applications are useful. AI has made inroads to automation and decision support systems to complement or augment human abilities.

Body:

AI is being widely used today as shown below

• AI enhances the ability of computer systems to learn from their experiences over time, makes them capable of reasoning, perceiving relationships and analogies, helps solve problems, as well as respond in natural languages and adapt to new conditions.
• AI allows machines to sense and comprehend their surroundings and act according to their own intelligence or learning.
• Governance:
  • As India is poised for reforms in governance, AI can actually help with process optimization and cost savings for the government, in addition to solving some strategic problems or assisting in decision making.
• Economy:
  • Economic growth is vital for development, and the next generation of economic growth is anticipated to be fueled by technologies relating to big data, block chain, quantum computing and AI. These game changing technologies will spur innovation, create value for the investors, generate specialized job domains and as a result, propel economic growth.
  • Issues such as tax evasion, money laundering etc can be easily addressed using AI.
  • 68% of Indian business decision-makers believe AI will help their business in various ways such as boosting productivity, generating growth and addressing societal issues
  • India has one of the world’s largest automotive industries, with a significant production and consumption base. AI applications have vast scope in the automotive sector, ranging from enhancing fuel efficiency to passenger safety to the concept of self-driving vehicles.
• Healthcare:
  • Healthcare sector in India is burgeoning with innovation and demand, having business models unique to the Indian requirements and spending power.
  • AI can augment the potential of government and private sector to deliver healthcare services and products with improved drug safety, better diagnosis and analysis of clinical reports for preventive and accurate treatment.
• Defence:
  • More advanced applications of AI extend to the domains of foreign, defence and security policies. Deep learning in AI can unravel futuristic functions by augmenting decision making ability of the humans with access to the information derived from large data sets.
• Security:
  • AI has many peace time applications as well. It can be used to train soldiers and pilots, simulate war-game, synthesize information from surveillance systems and address critical problems in optimizing logistics, fleet management and maintenance
  • Vision and Voice systems to interpret and comprehend visual inputs such as images, clinical diagnosis and facial recognition or voice inputs to recognize the source of the sound.
  • Law enforcement or internal security requirements for detecting and recognizing individuals or criminals, with multitudes of data streaming from police databases or the network of surveillance cameras.
  • Banking and financial services for fraud detection using advanced algorithms to identify patterns in transactions and consumer behaviours which are risk prone.
  • AI is also helping insurance providers arrive at better risk assessment.
• Countries such as India can benefit a lot from the use of AI by focusing on sectors such agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure etc.

Concerns and Risks:

• Lack of broad based expertise in research and application of AI.
• Absence of enabling data ecosystems –access to intelligent data.
• Data usage without consent, data selection bias and the resulting discrimination of AI models.
• High resource cost and low awareness for adoption of AI.
• Privacy and security, including a lack of formal regulations around anonymisation of data.
• Absence of collaborative approach to adoption and application of AI.
• Challenges remain in respect of applying stringent and narrowly focused patent laws to AI applications
• Indian technical universities are not doing enough to strengthen the AI ecosystem unlike their global counterparts.

Way forward:

• AI research in India is still in its infancy and requires largescale concerted and collaborative interventions.
• Skilling and reskilling of workforce forms an integral part of adopting AI.
• Adoption of decentralized teaching mechanisms, working in collaboration with the private sector and educational institutions.
• Adoption of AI across the value chain viz. startups, private sector, PSUs and government entities, will truly unlock the potential by creating a virtuous cycle of supply and demand.
• Data is one of the primary drivers of AI solutions, and thus appropriate handling of data, ensuring privacy and security is of prime importance.
• Establishing data protection frameworks and adoption of international standards.
• In order for India to ride the AI innovation wave, a robust intellectual property framework is required.

Conclusion:

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge” was what Stephen Hawking said. The transformative capability of AI in India is huge, and must be rooted in an egalitarian ethical basis. Any institutional framework for AI should have a multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder approach, and have an explicit focus on the ethical basis.