What is Artificial Intelligence? | Potential of AI in India

AI might just be the single largest technological revolution of our lifetimes, with the potential to disrupt almost all aspects of human existence. It is often compared to that of electricity 100 years back.

AI is not a new phenomenon, with much of its theoretical underpinning developed over the past 70 years by computer scientists such as Alan Turing, Marvin Minsky, and John McCarthy. AI has already existed to some degree in many industries and governments. Now we are on the cusp of the exponential age of AI as organizations learn to unlock the value trapped in vast volumes of data.

What is AI?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a wide-ranging branch of computer science concerned with building smart machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence.

In other words, it is a constellation of technologies that enable machines to act with higher levels of intelligence and emulate human capabilities.

AI technology has a checkered history with mixed responses of optimism, and disappointment, and periods of inertia, which is termed as “AI winters”.

Each previous breakthrough has only hyped AI, none has managed to kick-start the technology into the mainstream.

The big change today is that we are in an unprecedented period of technology innovation across so many different fields that gives us the belief that the “AI Spring” has not only arrived but is here to impact our lives forever.

Global Developments in Artificial Intelligence

Countries around the world are becoming increasingly aware of the potential socio-economic benefits of developing and applying AI.

China & U.K. estimate that 26% and 10% of their GDPs respectively in 2030 will be sourced from AI-related activities and businesses.

USA, UK, France, China, Japan, and other countries have published their AI plan a few years back.

These countries are now working on infrastructural interventions for creating a larger ecosystem of AI development, such as the creation of “data trusts”, digital connectivity infrastructure like 5G/full fiber networks, common supercomputing facilities, fiscal incentives, and the creation of open-source software libraries to aid the development of AI.

For building the future workforce for AI, countries are also significantly investing in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) talent development through investment in universities, mandating new courses (e.g., AI and law), to retrain people.

Many countries have created dedicated public offices such as the Ministry of AI (UAE), and the Office of AI (U.K.) while China and Japan have allowed existing ministries to take up AI implementation in their sectoral areas.

Therefore, the need of the hour is to develop a policy framework that will help set up a vibrant AI ecosystem in India, if not India would be running behind these countries.

AI's potential in various sectors:

Artificial Intelligence has the potential to provide large incremental value to a wide range of sectors globally and is expected to be the key source of competitive advantage for firms.

a) Healthcare:

Application of AI in healthcare can help address issues of accessibility to healthcare facilities, especially in rural areas that suffer from poor connectivity and limited supply of healthcare professionals.

This can be achieved through the implementation of use cases such as AI-driven diagnostics, personalized treatment, early identification of potential pandemics, and imaging diagnostics, among others.

b) Agriculture:

AI can lead the food revolution and meeting the increased demand for food considering the population growth.

AI can address challenges such as inadequate demand prediction, lack of assured irrigation, and overuse/misuse of pesticides and fertilizers.

c) Smart Mobility, including Transports and Logistics:

Potential uses here are ride-sharing, semi-autonomous features such as driver assist, predictive engine monitoring and maintenance, autonomous trucking and delivery, and improved traffic management.

d) Retail:

The retail sector has been one of the early adopters of AI solutions, with applications such as improving user experience by providing personalized suggestions, preference-based browsing, an image-based product search.

Potential areas include customer demand anticipation, improved inventory management, and efficient delivery management.

e) Manufacturing:

Expected to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of AI-based solutions, thus enabling to automate processes and machinery to respond to unfamiliar or unexpected situations by making smart decisions.

Impact areas include engineering, supply chain management (demand forecasting), production (AI can achieve cost reduction and increase efficiency), maintenance (predictive maintenance and increased asset utilization), quality assurance (e.g. vision systems with machine learning algorithms to identify defects, and deviations in product features).

f) Energy:

Potential in the energy sector includes energy system modeling and forecasting to decrease unpredictability and increase efficiency in power balancing and usage.

In renewable energy, AI can enable the storage of energy through intelligent grids enabled by smart meters, and also improve the reliability and affordability of photovoltaic energy.

g) Smart Cities:

Integration of AI in newly developed smart cities and infrastructure could also help meet the demands of a rapidly urbanizing population and providing them with enhanced quality of life.

Potential areas include traffic control to reduce congestion and enhanced security through improved crowd management.

h) Education and Skilling:

AI can potentially solve quality and access issues observed in the Indian education sector.

Potential areas include augmenting and enhancing the learning experience through personalized learning, automating and expediting administrative tasks, and predicting the need for student intervention to reduce dropouts or recommend vocational training

I) Banking & Finance:

This sector is one of the pioneering sectors globally when it comes to AI adoption, and India has also seen a steep increase in AI-based implementation in recent times.

Existing and potential use of AI in this sector include improved customer interaction through personalized engagement, virtual customer assistance, and chatbots; deployment of intelligent automation in rule-based back-office operations; development of credit scores; and fraud analytics for proactive monitoring and prevention of various instances of fraud, money laundering, malpractice, and the prediction of potential risks.

Source: compiled from NITI Aayog's report on AI.