Listen to this article:

Last week, the AI Impact Summit in Delhi was mired in chaos because of mismanagement. In Beijing, meanwhile, a flawless humanoid robot show, inaugurated the Lunar New Year showcased the country’s cutting edge AI and robotics. The programme featured more than a dozen humanoid robots that gave a martial arts demonstration that included technically difficult innovations in robot coordination and fault recovery.

In New Delhi, the news space was occupied by an exhibitor who showed a dog-robot, claiming it to be an indigenous product; it was actually a relabeled Chinese one.

As for India, Prime Minister Modi himself noted that the summit showcased the extraordinary potential of AI in India. India has enormous talent manifested by the lakhs of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) graduates it produces and a deep diaspora embedded in leading AI labs. The country houses 20 % of the world’s chip design engineers and a workforce that supports their work. Now, the government is investing significantly in AI development.

But though India is the home of leading IT companies like Infosys, Wipro and TCS, we have not been a leader in developing Large Language Models. Despite its STEM numbers, India’s AI industry growth is hindered by a significant shortage of specialized AI talent, limited computational infrastructure, as well as sustainability challenges arising from the massive energy and water required for data centres.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.

The AI summit was originally planned as a discussion on early stage safety issues, but it became a massive business oriented trade fair. The summit eventually served as a platform for India to pitch itself as a leader in AI deployment, infrastructure and........

© The Wire