Tech Explained: Here’s a simplified explanation of the latest technology update around Tech Explained: India can lead in making AI more accessible to Global South: BCG India MD & Partner Sidharth Madaan in Simple Termsand what it means for users..
Yet, India faces a risk of not catching up fast enough with new upcoming technologies and converting its demographic advantage into a productivity advantage, for which AI can play a pivotal role in skilling its existing workers and those who are entering the workforce, Madaan told PTI here on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit.
“India has done very well when it comes to language models. Whether it is ‘Bhashini’ or ‘Sarvam’, many of them are actually open source. Just by taking a lot of content and the knowledge available to different markets, leveraging the technology we have cracked, the language models we have cracked will be actually phenomenally powerful,” he said when asked about the potential for adoption of AI in skilling and then taking it to the Global South countries from India.
He further said,”Imagine other Global South — Africa, Latin, 50-60 countries — each with their own local nuances. The technology has reached at a level where India has managed to solve for Indian languages, which can easily be taken to Africa to solve for 50-plus African countries. India can clearly lead in making AI more accessible to Global South.”
When asked about the significance of AI in skilling in the country, Madaan said India right now has one of the youngest populations in the world with average age of 29 years, while rest of the world has average age of late 30s or 40 plus .
“This demographic advantage, unless we train them on the new upcoming technologies, will not materialise into productivity advantage. In fact, we are facing a risk of not catching up fast enough and hence skilling is paramount,” he noted.
The existing workforce needs to be trained on the new technologies, while the younger population which is coming into the workforce also needs to be prepared to be able to use technology “where we have the advantage”, Madaan asserted.
On the gap between skilling and AI adoption, he said it is “quite huge and we need to come up the curve on digital adoption. We need to come up the curve on STEM education, the math, science basics and being able to use AI to advantage.”
Madaan, however, added,”The beauty is that AI is making the form factor easier. You can now talk in different languages, you can talk in different voice formats instead of looking at data and reading the text.”
Technology is making it easier to reach the last mile, he said, adding “but there is still a lot of skilling to be done to be able to take advantage of the technology that we have ahead of us.”