India prioritising real-world AI for healthcare, agriculture and climate change, says Vaishnaw

IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said India is focused on practical applications of artificial intelligence, including enterprise productivity and solutions for population-scale challenges such as healthcare, agriculture and climate change.

Speaking at a research symposium during the India AI Impact Summit, Vaishnaw said the country’s priority is to deploy AI in real-world settings and at scale.

“We, in India, are very focused on AI in the edge, AI for use cases, AI for solving real-world problems, AI for improving the productivity in the enterprises, for population-scale problems like healthcare, like agriculture, like climate change. These are things we are focussed on here in India. And the AI submit brings that opportunity,” he said.

The minister also expressed happiness over the participation and response of young people at an AI Expo held on Tuesday as part of the summit.

He said around 2.5 lakh attendees, most of them under the age of 30, took part across the exhibition area.

“It was a phenomenal response when I interacted with the young minds. I was so surprised by the optimism that most of the young people expressed towards this opportunity which is coming for them,” Vaishnaw said.

He added that the response made him feel hopeful about the future.

The minister said he was feeling hopeful for a totally new future for India and for the world.

At the symposium, Vaishnaw also asked participants to provide solid and concrete suggestions on how to make AI safe. He said AI is a great tool and should be used for the benefit of humans.

The India AI Impact Summit, described as one of the country’s largest global gatherings on artificial intelligence, has brought together policymakers, industry leaders and technology experts in New Delhi. Discussions at the summit are centred on AI innovation, governance and real-world applications.