India's role in the future of AI
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What is the significance of India's AI summit?
India hosts a key AI summit without Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Live from the UK, this is the Marketplace Morning Report from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Nick Qureshi. The founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, has pulled out of a keynote address to a major AI summit in India after growing scrutiny over his ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Mr Gates has always denied any wrongdoing, but his absence has not stopped the conference from debating the future of artificial intelligence in India and the global south. The BBC's Arunade Mukherjee is at the summit for us. Hi, Arunade. Hi Nick. Now this conference is part of India's efforts to showcase the country as a major player in the artificial intelligence space.
Is that proving successful so far?
How is India positioning itself in the global AI landscape?
The entire intention of the country was to position itself as a leader of sorts in the global south, that this is the country to look at in terms of investment. It's the world's most populous country. with the 1.4 billion people, the world's largest youth population, over 800 million smartphone users. So the message was that this is the market to look at. This is the emerging market where AI is not just going to be consumed, but it's going to be created, built, and even exported. That's why the focus has been on building infrastructure, strengthening existing infrastructure. The kind of investments that we've heard about, for instance, from billionaire industrialists, Gautam Adani talking about $100 billion in India for infrastructure investment.
You've got the Indian government talking about $200 billion coming in over the next two years for infrastructure investment. So I think they've been trying to position itself as the country which is going to play a crucial role in sending up that message amidst concerns at the moment globally that given the adoption of AI has been uneven across the world, This is one area which could offer a solution to make it even and ensure that developing nations, developing economies don't get left behind in the global AI race. And I think that's the message which seems to have resonated because the kind of statements that we've heard coming in from... the likes of OpenAI, for instance. Sam Altman said that they have tremendous growing presence in India, and India appears to be one of their most crucial markets.
You had Antony Guterres of the UN, Secretary General, essentially saying that advancements in AI cannot be limited to just a handful of countries, but it has to move away from just a few billionaire businessmen. And I think that's the message that's resonated, that it is the global south also which needs to play a pivoted role, and India, by hosting the summit, has tried to position itself as the leader of sorts.
And very interesting comments from Narendra Modi saying that he wants AI to be deeply human-centric.
That's right. Launching something called Manav, which literally translates into human, and essentially building on the fact that human capital must go hand in hand as you look at artificial intelligence and take strides in technology. Once again, the kind of conversations that we've heard being centered around is that artificial intelligence cannot replace humans but must complement humans. And I think in that context, the kind of statements that we heard from the Indian government, either the technology minister or even the prime minister, when, for instance, they talked about, you know, building large language models, which is specific to India, would be game changers, given the kind of diversity India has, given the multiple languages that are spoken in the country.
You know, talking about sovereign models, the real test is going to be whether they are able to see through all of these commitments that are being talked about.
Arundhati Mukherjee, very nice to talk to you on Marketplace. Thank you for having me. OK, let's do some numbers. South Korean shares rose to a record high on Thursday, resuming trading after a three-day holiday with a tech-led rebound on Wall Street Boeing investor sentiment.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the significance of India's AI summit?
0:01–0:45
2
How is India positioning itself in the global AI landscape?
0:45–4:02
3
What investments are being made in AI infrastructure in India?
4:02–4:59
4
How does India's youth population impact its AI development?
4:59–6:41
5
What role does human-centric AI play in India's strategy?
6:41–8:01
6
How are restaurant owners responding to influencer culture?
8:01–8:06