On 𝟮𝟯𝗿𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝗰 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭 𝗮𝘁 𝟲:𝟬𝟬 𝗣𝗠 the INDIAai team organized an interactive session, Chai Time, between the team behind INDIAai and its followers, readers, people interested in AI, people from academia, government, startups, and more.

The event was organized virtually on Zoom to discuss AI and emerging technologies and answer people’s questions about AI. The Chai Time on Zoom was started with the introductions of the people behind the INDIAai portal. Ms. Asna Siddiqui is the Project Head for INDIAai, Mr. Jibu Elias, the Content and Research Head, Ms. Anjali Pathak, Product & Social Media Lead - INDIAai, and Ms. Samiksha Mehra, Content Associate for INDIAai, were present to kickstart the informal interactive session with the participants from varied backgrounds.

Ms. Asna Siddiqui shared her thoughts on what should be the government’s focus area in 2022 to make India a global AI leader and how the INDIAai portal is working towards the same. There are many efforts underway by the government like the National AI program, many other programs focussing on The National Language Translation Mission. These initiatives drive innovation in the country under the umbrella of the National program on AI. INDIAai has been actively talking about stories of innovation, efforts, government initiatives and bringing them to light. 

Ms. Samiksha Mehra then shared her thoughts on the EdTech industry, which uses various specialties of AI. She stressed the fact that with AI, people now understand essential aspects of wholesome learning rather than run-of-the-mill models. She also showed her delight in how central and state governments are focusing on imbibing skills around STEM subjects, robotics, and more. She mentioned that EdTech is about to witness great results in the future owing to the investments, interest, skilling initiatives and research in the direction. 

Mr. Jibu Elias started by expressing his gratitude to the participants for taking time out of their schedules and joining the session. Mr. Jibu Elias is an AI Ethicist & one of the leading experts on India’s AI ecosystem.

He shared his 2021 journey and talked about various milestones and projects like “Women in AI compendium,” AI patents report, and more. “75@75” was another project that showcased 75 case studies from India around AI innovation. The project features 75 use cases that have successfully impacted people and governance across the nation.

Mr. Jibu Elias shared that the journey of INDIAai started in 2018; however, the year 2021 has been the year where the team could bring forth the efforts put so far and exhibit the results. Jibu had been participating in various events, such as a recently organized Building an AI Nation at the Carnegie India at Global Technology Summit Carnegie India. 

“In broader point of view, there are significant changes happening in the AI space and I will attribute three factors to that. Fast advancements in Technology, Remote work culture owing to COVID, and the push from governments.” Said Jibu.

Jibu also mentioned the stats presented by a Mckinsey report; AI will contribute 13 trillion dollars to the global economy. This makes it evident that all the countries have to adapt and innovate their AI game, else there is this fear of being left out. 

Ms. Anjali Pathak talked about a product feature that INDIAai is working on integrating a dynamic text and voice-based chatbot. She also stressed the importance of integrating AI into products. She also talked about the challenges that small businesses or companies face in using AI. Challenges such as complex AI algorithms, training of AI models, replacing outdated ones with advanced ones, or limited AI expertise.

“However, the two most critical ones are data storage and security and sourcing quality data sets”, Anjali said.

The session was then open to questions from the participants, and the team answered them. The questions varied from the role of AI in cybercrime to the role of AI in weather forecasting. 

The core of such sessions is to create a strong AI community, which contributes at all levels in various ways. This also bridges the gap between people and the activities in the world of AI, creates awareness, and encourages participation. In addition, sessions like these would also bust many myths around AI, which is crucial to make people believe in the potential of AI, the incredible technology.