NITI Aayog, Google to work on developing AI in India

As part of this partnership, NITI Aayog and the technology giant will jointly work on organising training for relevant government functionaries to introduce them to open source AI tools with the goal of enabling more effective governance.

“Artificial intelligence is going to disrupt the way business is done and India, in particular, is uniquely poised in utilising AI to innovate for social and inclusive good. India is embracing future technologies such as machine learning and AI to augment its capacity in healthcare, improve outcomes in education, develop innovative governance systems for our citizens and improve overall economic productivity of the nation," said Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog.

He added that NITI's partnership with Google will unlock massive training initiatives, support startups and encourage AI research through PhD scholarships, all of which contributes to the larger idea of a technologically-empowered New India.

They will also award grants and scholarships to researchers, scholars and university faculty conducting cutting edge research in the field of AI and machine learning in India.

The two will also jointly organise AI/ML study jams for students and developers based on Google’s Machine Learning Crash Course (MLCC) on the fundamentals of machine learning.

In addition, they will also incubate Indian AI/ML startups in a programme where they will be mentored by Google to better leverage AI in their respective business models. They will also organise a hackathon focused on using AI/ML and open data sets to solve key challenges within agriculture, education and healthcare in India.

Globally, Google has been working with researchers, companies and developers and arming them with tools to solve complex problems with machine learning.

These include but are not limited to the open-source machine learning framework TensorFlow, custom-built machine learning chips TPUs, Cloud AI — a suite of products to help businesses build their own machine learning powered services.

Google also has a set of educational resources about machine learning and AI, including a free online machine learning crash course that anyone can use to learn and practice machine learning concepts.

“Artificial intelligence has the potential to improve people’s lives in profound ways — from helping diagnose diseases and breaking down language barriers to making businesses more efficient. And we’re just at the beginning of what’s possible. We believe that ultimately, AI will help tackle huge challenges like healthcare, environmental protection and other social and developmental problems, while also spur innovation for businesses and developers,” said Rajan Anandan, Vice President, India and South East Asia.