On Wednesday, NITI Aayog, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) announced the launch of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based module aimed at empowering students in Indian schools. The first of its kind initiative by the Government of India (GoI) is aimed to reach more than 2.5 million students through Learn-It-Yourself modules that can be accessed through 5000 Atal Tinkering Labs (ALT). 

Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog, speaking at the press conference in New Delhi emphasised on the opportunities that the country can unlock through AI technology such as adding 1.3% to India’s GDP on an annual basis. 

He further said, “We want to make artificial intelligence a great fun so that children can enjoy it, they can evolve and learn and take India forward…Indians can find solutions to the challenges of a shared, connected zero-emission world, improving learning outcomes, disease like tuberculosis, cancer, etc.”

The hands-on AI module has been designed for students, especially in the K-12 segment, taking into consideration existing programs related to academics, extra-curricular and other ALT programs. The module is activity-based, guiding experiments and videos that would help students grasp various concepts of AI. 

Lauding the collaboration, Mission Director Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog R Ramanan said, “This is the first-ever industry-government academia initiative on such a scale to keep the school students abreast of latest technologies.” 

NASSCOM, along with AIM, has developed these special modules in collaboration with industry experts and universities such as Microsoft, Adobe, SAP Labs, among many others. Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM, said, “AI has become a strategic lever for economic growth across nations and will continue to be one of the most crucial technologies of the future…The partnership is a crucial step in building citizens and a workforce that is aware of AI and can work with AI.”

AIM is a GoI initiative with a mandate to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. ATLs are going to be established by AIM at the school level, across all districts in India. For the initial phase, 14,916 schools spread across the country, have been identified to build ATLs. The team also plans on developing a follow-up module, an AI Step-up module- that will help students advance after completing this introductory module.