Artificial intelligence to empower agriculture, healthcare and education: PM at RAISE 2020

Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020 (RAISE 2020), being organized by the Government of India along with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and NITI Aayog, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5 October 2020. The four-day virtual event aims at bringing together pre-eminent personalities from across the world to exchange ideas and chart a course for using artificial intelligence for social transformation, inclusion and empowerment in areas like healthcare, agriculture, education and smart mobility, among other sectors.

While wishing for India to become a global hub for artificial intelligence, the prime minister said: “Artificial Intelligence is a tribute to human intellectual power. The power to think enabled humans to make tools and technologies. AI is an emerging technology, and the teamwork of AI with humans can do wonders for our planet.”

He also stated that it is the collective responsibility of the society at large to ensure trust in artificial intelligence is maintained and that AI is used for larger public good. The Prime Minister wished India to become a global hub for Artificial Intelligence and hoped many more Indians would start working on this in the times to come. He said the approach towards this goal is powered by core principles of: teamwork, trust, collaboration, responsibility and inclusivity.

The event was presided over by several other notable personalities such as Ravi Shankar Prasad, minister, Law & Justice, Communications, Electronics & Information Technology; Dr. Arvind Krishna, CEO, IBM; Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog; Mukesh Ambani, chairman, Reliance Industries; and Ajay Sawhney, Secretary. MeitY.

“AI has not only potential to transform the livelihood of people but also it will significantly improve the global economy,” said Dr. Arvind Krishna, CEO, IBM at the RAISE 2020 event while highlighting on the implementation of AI in the country.

“Technology keeps on evolving. Its pace overtakes us and at times overwhelms us. We welcome AI because it has enormous potential for development and also bring in equity and delivery,” said Ravi Shankar Prasad, while adding that the Personal Data Protection Bill being passed by the government has a fine amalgamation of data security, privacy, safety, innovation and empowerment, which will give a “big fillip” to the data economy which India is poised to offer.

Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, said that since India is unique diversity in terms of language, culture and development challenges, it is the perfect destination and “Garage” for the development of solutions that can address global challenges. “The future development and progress of the world is intricately linked with leveraging AI knowledge to push social empowerment. With more than 600 Millon internet users, India is very uniquely positioned to take advantage of the AI revolution,” he said.