Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fast becoming a key focus for countries across the globe, with India being no exception. The Prime Minister recently unveiled plans for an ambitious AI Mission at the Global Partnership for AI Summit. This initiative is intended to propel India to the forefront of the AI landscape, by galvanizing its innovation ecosystem and offering compute-as-a-service to startups.
It’s important to understand that ‘computing capacity’, or ‘compute’, refers to the resources that a program needs in order to function effectively – encompassing processing power, memory, networking, and storage.
Key Objectives of the AI Mission
The primary aim of the AI Mission is to establish robust computing powers for AI within India. The Mission anticipates enhancing services for startups and entrepreneurs while facilitating AI applications in vital sectors like agriculture, healthcare, and education.
Building Compute Capacity
A substantial part of this plan involves building a considerable compute capacity, targeting anywhere between 10,000 to 30,000 Graphic Processing Units (GPUs). GPUs are specialized chips or electronic circuits capable of rendering graphics for display on an electronic device. They help accelerate computer graphics and image processing. The plan also includes acquiring an additional 1,000-2,000 GPUs via the C-DAC’s PSU Centre.
Collaborating for Capacity Building
The government underlines the importance of cooperating with the private sector for capacity building as part of the National Supercomputing Mission. Expansion will occur with the addition of 1,000-2,000 GPUs via C-DAC’s indigenous server platforms – Rudra and Param.
Incentive Structures and DPI for Startups
Various incentive models are under consideration, including capital expenditure subsidies, operational expense-based incentives, and a “”usage”” fee. The government hopes to establish a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) using GPUs assembly, thereby offering startups access to computational capacity at a lower cost.
Focus on Utilizing Datasets
Another notable aspect is the introduction of the India Datasets platform, which offers non-personal and anonymized datasets to startups and researchers. A directive is also being considered to compel major tech companies, including Facebook, Google, and Amazon, to share anonymized data.
The Definition of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the capacity of a computer or a robot to perform tasks generally carried out by humans as they require human judgement. AI’s ideal attribute is its ability to rationalize and act with the best probability of achieving a specific goal. Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) are subsets of AI that enable automatic learning through the assimilation of vast amounts of unstructured data such as text, images, or video.
Other AI Initiatives Undertaken by India
In addition to the AI Mission, India is also involved in several other AI-related initiatives – INDIAai., Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), US India Artificial Intelligence Initiative, Responsible AI for Youth, and Artificial Intelligence Research, Analytics and Knowledge Assimilation Platform. These collective efforts not only showcase India’s commitment to advancing AI but also indicate the potential of AI to address some of the country’s most pressing challenges.