UP's recent AI conclave - the good, the bad and the unfixable
From Abhivardhan, our Chairperson
This post is authored by Mr Abhivardhan, our Chairperson.
Disclaimer: I thank Rupak Chattopadhyay ji for coining a good title for my review of the Invest UP and its AI Conclave event.
Okay folks, I am glad to continue my engagements on #AI, #publicpolicy, #tech and #IndoPacific. First, I had the opportune to attend the Groundbreaking Ceremony 4.0 organised by the Uttar Pradesh Government under its Invest UP banner. I will provide an honest and respectful take of how the event really was.
I came across some amazing use cases of artificial intelligence in fields like:
#agriculture - like Kisan e-Mitra offered by PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana - with a chatbot powered by Wadhwani AI to address concerns of farmers.
#mentalhealth - an AI-powered Voice Lab by Manodyam supported by IIT Kanpur - and their use cases are very stable. Their goals seem to be reasonable and not hyped, which makes them credible. They claim they have done pilot testing, and I wish best for their product launch.
#chakbandiai by the Uttar Pradesh Government - as they had displayed in the ET Vision AI Conclave in November 2023. The Proof of Concept calls are over and the digitised use of chakbandi using AI tools by the government is now happening to resolve property ceiling-related legal disputes, and for effective documentation of lands and properties.
#spacetech - Take Me 2 Space and Blu Ocean have partnered for a space research & development satellite initiative where using spectrometer, they'd be conducting research on #vitamins and #nutrients. That is a good thing to reckon for.
There are some honourable mentions for an AI startup incubated by IIIT Lucknow for their AI "schauffer" which can be helpful for premium hospitality chains and some drone start-ups as well.
I wish the best to them.
Ricky Kej's performances have been a cherry at the top for sure.
Now - on their AI strategy, what it looks is that they are partnering on some genuine public sector use cases in land records, agriculture, accessibility and prison surveillance and general surveillance (for example in Lucknow city). However, from a private sector end, their AI Conclave was disappointing because the major centres of excellence or private sector investments and even commitments are only or largely happening in Delhi NCR, i.e., Western Uttar Pradesh, i.e., Meerut, Noida, Ghaziabad etc.
What they should have focused was not just about partnering on AI-related public sector use cases with major players, but also about how to nurture genuine AI start-ups and industrial networks in West and Central UP.
This is why I find Deloitte's "Lucknow as an AI City" a bit confusing. Lucknow cannot outcompete Delhi or Noida, let alone Hyderabad, or Bengaluru because research institutions like IIIT-Allahabad, IIT Kanpur and IIIT-Lucknow cannot do enough. Still, it was not a waste of time.
Glad to meet some friends and known faces as usual.
The complete post can be read here.
In short - there are two key issues in India's "AI" ecosystem.
First - there is no attempt to document and standardise AI use cases. A lot of trust is being superimposed on Indian and foreign IT companies without taking into account that for India to become an "AI use case" capital of the world, it has to standardise and document these AI use cases.
Second - no regulation is happening immediately. Nobody is going to come with stringent regulations in India, because most use cases in India are half-baked and need a healthy regulatory and economic environment to even survive. You obviously cannot kill the AI industry before it even starts.
This is exactly where ISAIL comes in.
We engage with tech startups and professionals to standardise their use cases. Yes - we prioritise startups and MSMEs because they are the most risk-averse category of businesses in the AI ecosystem in India. Big IT companies may handle losses and issues attributable to their use cases and their commercial viability. However, an MSME, an AI & computer sciences student and a start-up needs to be taken in confidence that their use cases will be protected by law, as well as standardised to enable market integrity. Know more at http://isail.in/team. I am also working on a set of training tools and programmes on AI and Law for everyone. Those tools will be released in the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned.