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From left, Dr Manish Gupta, Director of Research, Google, Dr Grace Chung, Director of Research, Google Ausalia, Dr Jeff Dean, Chief Scientist, Google DeepMind and Google Research at the event at Bangalore.
India is well positioned in the field of artificial intelligence, Dr Jeff Dean, chief scientist of Google DeepMind and Google Research, said on Thursday when asked about the role the country will play in the future of artificial intelligence innovations. of AI.
Dean made the comments at the tech giant’s first-ever Research@ event in Bangalore, alongside leading academic researchers, developers and startups.
Aimed at exploring the next frontier of AI in India, the event brought together the country’s leading AI practitioners and researchers. They discussed local solutions and provided a platform for collaborative interaction, to help chart the path forward for using AI to build a better future. Dr. Dean and other Google executives joined the event in person to discuss the future of AI and its implications for India.
“India has enormous technical talent; there is a long tradition of computer science students in India doing amazing things,” said Dr Dean. “Everyone who is interested in computer science is looking at machine learning and what it can do. India is well placed in this field because many students are already in this field and people are already in this industry. This is a big thing across the world.
The forum also discussed key areas of language model development (LLM) for India. This involves expanding language inclusion to ensure all Indians can access information in their native language, using AI to transform healthcare, optimizing LLM efficiency and prioritizing responsible development of AI.
“One of the efforts I helped encourage was our 1,000 language effort, to make AI models available in all major languages,” Dr. Dean said of Google’s efforts to reduce the digital divide. “This is crucial because many languages spoken by tens of millions of people lack comprehensive written materials. This is really important because making these languages accessible to AI technologies will unlock their potential for different communities that were previously underserved.
Key faculty from India’s top educational institutions also participated in the event, sharing their ideas and research on the local AI landscape.
“This was a great event, bringing together India’s best AI/ML researchers in one place,” said Balaraman Ravindran, professor of computer science at IIT Madras. “I hope this event will serve as a seed for greater collaboration between academic researchers and industry. »
Preethi Jyothi, associate professor at IIT Bombay, said events like Research@ are very useful in bringing together Indian academics working on machine learning, as well as Google researchers to explore common interests. “This involves collectively discussing the next frontiers in this area,” Jyothi said.
Google’s Dr. Dean also highlighted the evolving nature of AI. He added that it is very important to be aware of the rough edges and potential pitfalls that arise when scaling machine learning models. “There’s a lot of progress in terms of factual accuracy compared to these models from a year or two ago,” Dr. Dean said. “It is important that we continue to work to maximize the benefits while actively mitigating the harms. »
Tech giant Alphabet recently introduced its most advanced artificial intelligence model, a technology capable of processing different forms of information such as video, audio and text. Called Gemini, the Google owner’s highly anticipated AI model is capable of reasoning more sophisticatedly and understanding information with a greater degree of nuance than Google’s previous technology, the company said.
In India, the generative AI ecosystem is growing steadily. Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence technology that can produce different types of content, including text, images, audio, and synthetic data. This is expected to disrupt the entire marketing and healthcare process, including drug discovery, and create various “co-pilot” opportunities across different verticals.
Krutrim, the generative AI company, recently said it had become a unicorn, or startup, valued at over $1 billion, after closing its first funding round. Krutrim, which means “artificial” in Sanskrit, unveiled its core Large Language Model (LLM) in December 2023. With the largest representation of Indian data used for its training, it powers generative AI applications for all Indian languages. Trained by a team of leading IT scientists, based in Bengaluru and San Francisco, this model will also power Krutrim’s conversational AI assistant which understands and speaks multiple Indian languages fluently.
Sarvam AI, another Indian generative AI startup, has unveiled OpenHathi, the first major Hindi language model. Sarvam recently raised $41 million in a Series A funding round led by Lightspeed and supported by Peak XV Partners and Khosla Ventures. Sarvam is developing a “full-stack” product that can be used to train custom AI models or as an enterprise platform. The company said a comprehensive approach would accelerate the adoption of GenAI in India, as companies recognize the technology’s potential but wonder how to exploit it for commercial purposes.
There is also an LLM-based solution, BharatGPT. The solution is a combined effort of CoRover.ai, an AI startup, and I-HUB Anubhuti Support System dedicated to developing data-driven cognitive computing solutions.
First publication: February 1, 2024 | 10:00 p.m. STI
