Bletchley: India joined a league of 28 nations by signing the Bletchley Declaration at the Bletchley Summit, a testament to India’s growing prominence in the global AI landscape.
The two-day AI Safety Summit provided a forum for world leaders, tech innovators, and experts to engage in vital discussions surrounding the ethical and responsible development and deployment of AI. India, as highlighted during the summit, is actively addressing the challenges and opportunities in AI, emphasizing responsible AI practices.
This summit serves as a crucial platform for India to collaborate with global stakeholders, share insights, and shoulder a shared responsibility in tackling AI-related risks and fostering international cooperation in AI safety and research. India’s commitment to harnessing the potential of AI while safeguarding against risks positions the country as a significant contributor to the global AI landscape, shaping the future of this transformative technology.
Future of tech should be driven by international collaborations rather than just a few countries!
Listen to MoS @Rajeev_GoI‘s remarks at the opening session of the #AISafetySummit, where he spoke about India’s transformational journey of Digital Expansion and highlighted PM… pic.twitter.com/Xy3OB7n32l
— Digital India (@_DigitalIndia) November 3, 2023
The significance of India’s role in this summit is amplified by its status as one of the world’s top five nations with a robust IT sector, offering opportunities for startups and investors to further strengthen this sector. A Deloitte India report underscores the substantial investments in AI, with organizations across various sectors planning significant increases, such as 60% of respondents in Life Science and Healthcare, 56% in Financial Services, 45% in Technology, Media, and Telecommunications, and 35% in Consumer Services, expressing their intent to boost AI investments by more than 20%.
These developments align with the Indian government’s proactive initiatives, particularly the NITI Aayog policy, which seeks to enhance the country’s GDP significantly. According to a Nasscom report, AI is expected to contribute $450-500 billion to India’s GDP by 2025, constituting 10% of the nation’s ambitious $5 trillion GDP target. The NITI Aayog’s National Strategy on AI, initiated in 2018, strives to establish India as a global leader in AI by ensuring responsible and transformative AI adoption.
While the Indian government is actively promoting AI-related investments and businesses with the goal of creating over 900,000 white-collar jobs and 3.6 million indirect jobs in India by 2030, it is also focused on addressing economic targets. In 2021, the Prime Minister’s Office initiated the creation of a visionary document with 10 sectoral groups of secretaries. In 2023, NITI Aayog was entrusted with consolidating these visions into a unified plan. Although India’s initial aspiration of achieving a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25 faces challenges due to declining growth rates, the vision document now aims to propose institutional reforms, with the objective of attaining developed nation status by 2047 to avoid the middle-income trap.
Notably, the required growth rate to achieve a $10 trillion economy by 2047 remains unspecified, although some experts project a 9% growth rate by 2030. The divergence in economic projections highlights the importance of strategic planning and structural reforms, central themes addressed by NITI Aayog’s vision document in its pursuit of a more resilient and competitive Indian economy.
Further buoying India’s economic prospects, the World Bank’s IDU report noted that despite global challenges, India achieved an impressive growth rate of 7.2% in FY22/23, making it one of the fastest-growing major economies. This resilience is attributed to robust domestic demand, substantial public infrastructure investments, and a strengthening financial sector. Moreover, the burgeoning startup ecosystem, with India ranking as the third-largest globally, demonstrates the nation’s attractiveness for capital funding, particularly in AI projects in sectors like e-commerce, banking, and healthcare.
This confluence of factors underscores the advent of the AI-powered era in India, marking the launch of Industry 4.0. India’s growth trajectory and its commitment to responsible AI practices showcase its evolving role as a significant player in the global AI landscape.
