During a panel discussion during the launch of the United States-India Artificial Intelligence (USIAI) collaborative project, scientists from across the world deliberated on the possibilities, challenges, and scope of AI technologies in agriculture, energy, climate change, affordable housing, and smart cities.
USIAI aims to serve as a platform to discuss opportunities, challenges, and barriers for bilateral AI research and development collaboration. It will study AI innovation, develop an AI workforce, and recommend mechanisms to catalyse partnerships.
According to a press release, during the event, an industry expert commented that the agreement has far-reaching potential for healthcare, agriculture, climate control, and smart cities. It could improve social-economic levels by bringing together stakeholders to solve problems.
The availability of data and technique excitement has caused a revolution in the AI domain. The field requires thinking on interdisciplinary matters and needs to have partners for programmes. The shortage of people with the right skills is acute in India, and it is a problem in the US too, a representative at the event noted.
As per the latest data, India will need nine times as many digital skilled workers by 2025 and the average Indian worker will need to develop seven new digital skills to keep pace with tech advancements and demand. This amounts to a total of 3.9 billion digital skill training from 2020 to 2025.
Fortunately, the demographic dividend is one of the biggest advantages for India; around 150 million students will enter the workforce over the next 5-10 years. The goal is to drive and create a culture of innovation among this workforce, and this collaboration can help drive the culture of innovation to find a solution for the problems of both countries.
Furthermore, there are several ways for AI to improve biomedicine supply and infrastructure. An expert noted that the first is handling and analysing large amounts of medical data. The second is developing tools and techniques to appropriately use the data, and the third possibility is to boost the scale and sufficiency of biomedicine processes.
USIAI is also expected to strengthen bilateral energy partnerships. The US side explained it will leverage the platform to share priorities to modernise and strengthen the grid; enhance the grid integration of renewables for reliable energy supply; promote smart and innovative efficient buildings and materials, and decarbonise and electrify the industrial sector. These areas will be explored under the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF), which was established in 2000.
The scientists also discussed future security and privacy concerns surrounding AI and also how AI tools and technologies could transform several sectors of the economy. They explored deep learning algorithms for cancer diagnosis, the application of machine learning to discover new materials, the use of 3D-printers in advanced manufacturing, and intelligent systems with cognition and decision-making abilities.
Over the next year, IUSSTF will conduct a series of roundtables and workshops to gather input from different stakeholder communities. It will prepare White Papers that identify technical, research, infrastructure, workforce opportunities and challenges, and domain-specific opportunities. It will cover healthcare, smart cities, materials, agriculture, energy, and manufacturing.
