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Updated September 27th, 2019 at 07:36 IST

Vishal Sikka: India can become world leader in artificial intelligence

Vishal Sikka has said that India has the potential to become a world leader in AI. However, India needs to integrate AI into the country's education system.

Vikas Sikka
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Former Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka, who has announced a new AI startup with USD50 million fund, believes India has the potential to become a world leader in artificial intelligence but the key to this is integrating AI into the country's education system in a massive way. India is at "an inflection point" when it comes to AI or artificial intelligence, Sikka said. Over the next 20-25 years, AI is going to be "a very, very big disruptor" for the Indian society because what one is seeing now in terms of automation and job losses because of automation is just the beginning, said Sikka. He announced his startup Vianai Systems last week. 

Vishal Sikka’s presents AI’s potential to NITI Aayog 

Sikka told PTI in an exclusive interview, "But on the other hand, if we are able to bring AI education, the ability to build AI systems to India at a very large scale, and I'm talking about like billion-plus people, then India can really leapfrog and become the world's leader in artificial intelligence, in AI skill and AI talent". Doing that requires working on multiple dimensions in parallel, he said. Last month, at the request of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sikka gave a presentation before the NITI Aayog how to expand the reach of AI to the Indian society in a very big way. Representatives of some 20 Union ministries were present during his presentation on AI and India. This, he said, required creating the necessary infrastructure to bring the talent through institutions, schools, and educational institutions, the ability to do AI education on a large scale. 

Read: Army likely to induct Artificial Intelligence, says Lt Gen Alok Singh

According to Sikka, the prime minister said he personally saw whenever classes worked into digital classrooms, he was joking that children would sometimes even forget to eat their lunch because they were so engrossed in learning. "It was very encouraging. But I think a lot of that has to be done," he said and suggested multi-faceted countrywide programs like digital classrooms. If India does nothing, then this great wave of AI is going to have massive disruption over the next 20 years. But on the other hand, if it puts together programs then this can be a huge advantage for it and "we can be a leader in the world," he said. 

Read: Artificial Intelligence Could Be Used To Find Out If There Is Discrimination At Various Levels

‘The technique is opaque’ 

Referring to his interactions with the Indian government officials and the steps being taken by the prime minister, Sikka said he is very encouraged by the commitment. His Vianai Systems is an AI Enterprise Platform startup with a mission to help businesses around the world successfully leverage AI to drive fundamental digital transformations. He said there have been remarkable achievements in the field of AI but conceded that significant issues too have emerged in the field of artificial intelligence. "The technique themselves are quite opaque, not transparent. The lack of ability to explain is one of the major weaknesses of these techniques," Sikka said. He said that there is an incredible shortage of talent in the field of AI. 

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Published September 27th, 2019 at 07:02 IST

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