Unlike social media or search engines, AI services need to be made with Indian context: Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Unlike social networks and search engines which are one size fits all, artificial intelligence (AI) services have to be tailored for local requirements based on the country's unique data, and the onus to do that lies on Indian entrepreneurs, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma said on December 12.

"It is up to us to solve this. Unlike social networks or search engines where Western solutions have worked, it is about using citizen or historic data points (in AI)," Sharma said at the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) Summit in Delhi.

"Whether through an open source large language model or by training a model with Indian data, AI will be a key to providing services to our citizens," he added.

The Paytm chief also talked about how AI could be leveraged in areas like education, healthcare and agriculture to address the lack of enough quality services and professionals in these sectors.

"India is a frugal country and has a dramatic scale of execution... Farmers are the least data-integrated. AI will bring the nuances of land ecology and address demand-supply gaps. Right now we are not able to build a supply chain unique to a region," he said.

Sharma further said, "We have a language barrier and a lot of students who are missing access to tools that can make them globally relevant. An interactive teacher they can talk to is still missing."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate the GPAI Summit on December 12, and international delegates are expected to engage in several sessions revolving around AI. As part of the event, the government is working on a multi-country, consensus-based declaration on AI, specifically on ways to mitigate risks and foster innovation.

The GPAI India meet marks the first major event of the alliance’s new council chair, India. The country took over from France as the GPAI council chair in November.

“As the Lead Chair of the GPAI, India reaffirms its commitment to harnessing technology, particularly AI, for the welfare of people, ensuring that nations of the Global South are not the last to reap its benefits. India is dedicated to clearing the path for a regulatory framework that ensures Safe and Trusted AI, bringing all nations together for widespread and enduring implementation,” PM Modi had said earlier in a blog post about the summit on LinkedIn.

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