The National AI Mission

Blog Credit : Trupti Thakur

Image Courtesy : Google

The National AI Mission

Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents to the world, opportunities to complement and supplement human intelligence and improve the ways people live and work. With its wide range of applications, AI and machine learning are present in almost all technological aspects of our lives.

India has recognized the potential of AI and has been actively working towards its development and application across various sectors. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming various sectors in India, including healthcare, finance, and education among others. The country has a strong focus on research and development in AI, and the government has launched several initiatives to foster the development and adoption of AI. In 2018, the Indian government launched the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence, which focused on fostering AI development in specific sectors. This strategy laid the foundation for further advancements in utilizing the applications of AI. In 2021, a draft for Responsible AI was introduced, featuring voluntary guidelines that prioritize ethical AI practices. These guidelines underscored the importance of transparency, accountability, and fairness. The Government of India has always intended to use AI in an inclusive and equitable manner. Therefore, the National Strategy is written as AI for All.

Recently approved National AI mission; the ‘INDIAai’ Mission aims to build a comprehensive ecosystem that fosters AI innovation by democratizing computing access, enhancing data quality, developing indigenous AI capabilities, attracting top AI talent, enabling industry collaboration, providing startup risk capital, ensuring socially impactful AI projects, and promoting ethical AI.

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has responsibility to implement the mission and to drive

The National AI Mission, also known as IndiaAI Mission, is a comprehensive initiative by the Indian government to build a robust and inclusive AI ecosystem. It aims to foster AI innovation, promote technological self-reliance, and ensure the responsible and ethical use of AI across various sectors. The mission focuses on democratizing access to AI, enhancing data quality, developing indigenous AI capabilities, attracting top AI talent, enabling industry collaboration, and ensuring socially impactful AI projects.

Here’s a breakdown of the key aspects:

Objectives

To deploy intelligent systems in a variety of decision-making tasks and enable better connectivity and enhance productivity

To use intelligent systems with a focus on addressing India’s societal needs across areas like healthcare, education, agriculture, smart cities, infrastructure, and mobility

To create new knowledge and develop new applications of intelligent systems

 

 

Core Objectives:

• Promote AI Innovation:

The mission aims to create an environment that encourages innovation and development of AI technologies within India.

• Foster Technological Self-Reliance:

A key goal is to reduce dependence on foreign AI technologies and build domestic capabilities.

• Ensure Ethical and Responsible AI:

The mission emphasizes the importance of using AI in a way that is socially beneficial and does not create harm.

• Democratize AI:

The mission seeks to make the benefits of AI accessible to all segments of society.

• Skill Development:

A focus on skilling and reskilling the workforce to adapt to the changing job market due to AI.

Key Components:

• IndiaAI Innovation Centre (IAIC):

A key pillar under which the mission supports startups and researchers in building foundational AI models using Indian datasets.

• Common Compute Capacity:

Providing access to high-performance computing resources (like GPUs) for AI development.

• Data Platforms:

Creating and enhancing access to public sector datasets to support AI-based innovation and research.

• FutureSkills Program:

Expanding access to AI education and training, including foundational-level courses in Data and AI.

• AI Kosha:

India’s national dataset platform enabling AI models trained on diverse Indian languages and cultural data.

Implementation:

• IndiaAI, an Independent Business Division under MeitY:Acts as the implementation agency for the IndiaAI Mission.
• Call for Proposals:The mission has launched calls for proposals to invite collaborations on building state-of-the-art foundational AI models.

Impact:

• Economic Growth:The mission aims to leverage AI for economic growth and global competitiveness.
• Social Impact:Ensuring AI is used for social good and addressing societal challenges.
• Skilled Workforce:Creating employment opportunities in the AI sector.
• Technological Sovereignty:Strengthening India’s position in the global AI landscape.

Recent Developments:

• 34,000+ GPUs deployed:

India has one of the world’s largest publicly funded AI compute platforms to power innovation, according to the Economic Times.

• Startups building foundational models:

IndiaAI is supporting startups in building indigenous large language models (LLMs).

• Focus on ethical AI:

The mission is emphasizing the importance of ethical and responsible AI development and deployment.

 

There are now incredible advances in data collection, processing and in computation power. Intelligent systems can now be deployed in a variety of tasks and decision-making to enable better connectivity and enhance productivity. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) mission will focus on efforts that will benefit India in addressing societal needs in areas such as healthcare, education, agriculture, smart cities and infrastructure, including smart mobility and transportation.

This mission will work with extensive academia- industry interactions on developing core research capability at national level which will include international collaborations. It will push technology frontiers through the creation of new knowledge and in developing and deploying applications.

responsible and inclusive growth of India’s AI ecosystem through its seven pillars namely:

• Pillar 1

IndiaAI Compute Capacity
Aims to focus on building a scalable AI ecosystem with 10,000+ GPUs via public-private partnerships, offering AI services and resources.

• Pillar 2

IndiaAI Innovation Centre
Aims to focus on developing and deploying indigenous Large Multimodal Models and domain-specific foundational models

• Pillar 3

IndiaAI Datasets Platform
Aims to focus on streamlining the access to high-quality non-personal datasets for AI innovation

• Pillar 4

IndiaAI Application Development Initiative
Develops, scales, and promotes impactful AI solutions for large-scale socio-economic transformation

• Pillar 5

IndiaAI FutureSkills
This pillar aims to expand AI education at all academic levels and establish Data and AI Labs in Tier 2 and 3 cities

• Pillar 6

IndiaAI Startup Financing
This pillar accelerates deep-tech AI startups by streamlining access to funding for innovative AI projects

• Pillar 7

Safe & Trusted AI
This pillar focuses on ensuring the responsible development, deployment, and adoption of AI by implementing Responsible AI projects, developing indigenous tools and frameworks, self-assessment checklists for innovators, and other guidelines and governance frameworks.

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) mission of the PM-STIAC focuses on efforts that will benefit India in addressing societal needs in areas such as healthcare, education, agriculture, smart cities, and infrastructure, including smart mobility and transportation. This mission work with extensive academia-industry interactions on developing core research capability at the national level which will include international collaborations. It intends to push technology frontiers through the creation of new knowledge and in developing and deploying applications.

 

Blog By : Trupti Thakur