NITI Aayog to float national programme on Artificial Intelligence

The government on Thursday extended its support for strengthening the Digital India initiative. The union budget which was presented by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that the government will invest in artificial intelligence as the technology seeks to disrupt future.

The government has directed NITI Aayog to float a national programme on artificial intelligence and conduct research on usability of the technology across various areas.

NITI Aayog, CEO Amitabh Kant took to twitter and called the government's announcement as historic. He said that NITI Aayog will work with all stakeholders and will also take steps to promote innovation and adoption in governance.

How do we create workforce for the jobs of the future? We have world-class talent. Need to encourage innovation by startups as well as application-oriented research activity in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Gr8 announcement by FM in Budget!

— Amitabh Kant (@amitabhk87) February 1, 2018

Artificial Intelligence can reduce these costs just to a fraction through automation. This automation is what will drive the future, and it is high time that every e-commerce company in India opens up to it.

Artificial Intelligence (AI, also machine intelligence, MI) is intelligence displayed by machines. It can be used by the government in the implementation of government schemes, capturing records of citizen data to deliver healthcare, education and food distribution services.

Artificial Intelligence can give you scale of application and quality of approach simultaneously. Historic announcement by FM to take a whole of government approach in AI. NITI will work with all stakeholders and take steps to promote innovation and adoption, esp. in governance.

— Amitabh Kant (@amitabhk87) February 1, 2018

China has carved out a detailed plan to become AI superpower by 2030. Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasised that future leader of artificial intelligence will rule the world.

Also Read: Flipkart steps up AIforIndia to enhance user experience, to hire AI experts

While sectors like agriculture, health and education have received a major chunk of the annual allocation, NITI Aayog took the centre stage in 2018 budget. The government has also asked NITI Aayog to take the lead in implementing policies ranging from farm sector reforms to establish a new ecosystem for artificial intelligence.

Govt think tank NITI Aayog is also allowed to work with states in finding ways to ensure that farmers get the minimum support price (MSP) even if market prices of agricultural produce fall below the minimum price.

Of late, Indian e-commerce companies are slowly adopting AI in various aspects of their businesses to reduce costs and drive sales. It can reduce operational costs just to a fraction through automation.

E-commerce juggernaut Flipkart is investing hundreds of USD million to enhance the shopping experience, shortening the time taken to fulfill deliveries, and address customer complaints.