As India poises to enter an Artificial Intelligence (AI) focused economy, it is imperative that its citizens too are ready to adapt and excel at the technology. 

In 2019, India had 72,000 professionals in its AI workforce. The AI industry also doubled its revenue in 2019 at $415 million, as compared to the $230 million revenue in 2018. Reports predict that by 2035, AI has the potential to add over $ 957 billion to India’s economy. But India still has a long way to go to be fully prepared to seize the enormous opportunities that AI presents. 

For creating an AI-ready workforce for the future, it is necessary that the youth of the country are fostered with the right skill-sets, mindsets and tools for AI readiness. With this vision in mind, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) along with Intel India has launched the Responsible AI for Youth - a national program for government schools. 

This program is currently aimed at students from class 8-12 across all government schools in district headquarters. “India must be a leading country in the development of Artificial Intelligence in the world, leveraging upon its vast Internet-savvy population and data it is creating,” said Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Union Minister for Electronics and IT, Law and Justice and Communications, at the launch event on 30 May 2020 in New Delhi. MoS for E&IT, Communications, and HRD, Shri Sanjay Dhotre, while emphasising the role of digital technologies with special reference to the pandemic-afflicted world, said that such technologies have proved to be our saviours during the difficult times.

The larger aim of the program “Responsible AI for Youth” is to provide an equal opportunity to all Indian youths - in urban, rural and remote corners of India - to become human-centric designers who can create real AI solutions to solve economic and social impact issues of India. 

This initiative is designed by industry experts and academicians to familiarise students with AI skill sets along with the right mindset, to enable them to contribute to AI advancement through social impact solutions via providing a democratise access to AI tools and training and overall equip the youth for a better tomorrow. “I want India to become synonymous with AI. It is important because the world will see at least $16 trillion more in the next ten years or so. And I want to see how India can get most of this into our economy” said Nivruti Rai, Country Head, Intel India who was also present at the event alongside Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad.

India has over 250 million students enrolled in school today, with 60% of this population studying in government schools. “Children of the government schools can’t afford (access to advanced studies like AI), but we can’t deny their talent. What they don’t have is an opportunity. Let this program create an opportunity for the young,” implored Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad. 

The Responsible AI for Youth program will achieve this over the next six months in three phases. In phase one, each state will select ten teachers and 20-25 students for the program who will undergo orientation and 33 online training modules of over 176 hours that cover both - theoretical and experiential learning. Based on this education, stunts will submit a video outlining their AI-centric social impact project. The top 100 students will be shortlisted for phase two based on this submission. They will deep dive into AI subjects and further refine their project. In phase three, 50 students will get to showcase their projects, of which 20 students will be declared winners. 

More information about the program along with other AI initiatives from the Ministry of Electronics and IT can be found here.