Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an area of computer science related to creating intelligent machines. Artificial Intelligence (AI) involves a machine that mimics the human mind’s cognitive functions such as learning and problem solving. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can also be defined as a machine that can think and act rationally and is capable of learning and solving problems autonomously.

Types of AI

• Algorithm-based AI

Global Search engines like Google use psychological profiling algorithms to predict the users   behaviors and preferences based on their past preferences.

• Neural-Network-based AI

Neural networks are computer systems, modeled on the human brain and replicating the way a human brain’s network of neurons processes and interprets data. This kind of AI learns autonomously.

• Deep Learning AI

Deep learning AI involves multiple layers of neural networks, working independently as well as in combination. Deep learning AI is used in image recognition, real-time face recognition, automatic speech recognition, cancer treatment, self-driving vehicles and genetics among others.

Benefits of AI

• Cyber security.
• Warfare systems.
• Logistics and transport.
• Target recognition.
• Warfare healthcare.
• Threat monitoring & situational awareness.
• AI & data information processing.
• Combat simulation & training.
• Can do tasks that are difficult or risky for humans.
• Can overcome human error.
• Can remove the requirement of human supervision in a number of tasks, thereby helping humans focus on more productive work.
• AI also has multiple uses in a wide spectrum of fields with immense benefits, if it is regulated and used for good of mankind.

Drawbacks of AI

• Increasing Unemployment

If AI is used along with robotics, it could automate many tasks which could lead to millions of humans losing their jobs in industries.

• Increasing Disparity between the Rich and the Working Class

AI could make the rich wealthier and could have a negative impact on the working classes.

• Implications for Human Rights and Freedom

Governments could utilise AI to monitor citizens thereby invading their privacy. This could have implications for human rights and freedom.

• Helping Media Corporations Control People’s Lives

AI could also help media corporations, control different aspects of people’s lives.

• Military Applications of AI could be Dangerous

AI has many military applications and is currently being used in autonomous drones to bomb targets without human intervention. However, if such system is used in nuclear weapons it could endanger the human race, according to analysts.

AI to Enhance the Operational Preparedness of the Armed Forces in India

• A high-powered Task Force headed by Tata Sons was finalising the specifics of the project, which would be implemented in a “partnership model” between the Armed Forces and the private sector.
• AI is where the future is going to be. We need to prepare ourselves for the next generation warfare which will be more and more technology-driven, more and more automated and robotised.
• India has also started to develop the capabilities of its Armed Forces like many other world powers.
• Unmanned aerial vehicles, naval vessels, tanks and automatic robotic rifles as weapon systems would have an extensive use in future wars.
• The Government’s decision is seen as part of the broader policy initiative to prepare the Indian Army, Air Force and Navy for next-generation warfare amid increasing investments by China in AI for its military.
• Defence experts point out that the application of AI in border surveillance could ease the pressure on the Armed Forces personnel guarding the borders with China and Pakistan.
• Analysts point out that all the big powers like the US, Britain, France, the EU and China are increasingly investing in AI. The US is also carrying out operations to target terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan and north-west Pakistan using drones which operate with the help of AI, successfully.
• AI would be used in detecting human intrusions on the borders and in constructing new road maps for the Indian Armed Forces.
• The DRDO Centre for AI and Robotics has developed a solution for signal intelligence to enhance intelligence collation and analytical capabilities of the Armed Forces.
• To study the whole gamut of issues on the implications of AI on national security and defence needs, a multi-stakeholder Task Force has been constituted, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
• The Task Force has initiated research and innovation in AI and outlined its adoption in the defence sector including future roadmap on how to integrate and embed AI strategy with core defence strategy.
• AI based tools will aid the defence forces constructively in areas such as decision support, sensor data analysis, predictive maintenance, situational awareness, accurate data extraction, security etc. These tools would assist defence personnel in better operations, maintenance and logistics support.
• The Government of India is expecting enhanced use of Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things in the fields of Aero Space, Automation, Defence and Military operations.
• Experts in Defence intelligence wing opine that AI and Internet of Things play a crucial role in development and deployment of autonomous weapons, intruders detection, situation analysis, counter measures, face recognition and pattern analyses, which would help in military operations.
• The rapid advances in technology necessitate that we now incorporate the industrial sector in defence manufacturing,” as statement issued by CDS.
• The Indian Defence industry is taking giant steps in transforming the armed forces into one of the most advanced in the world. The adoption of technology based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) will revolutionise the Indian Military. It also places India firmly in the huge defence product market.
• In view of increasing threat of cyber warfare India needs to be prepared. We have to understand that we have disputed land borders on our western sector. We don’t see peace on the horizon anywhere in the near future and armed forces need to be prepared. We need to be prepared by imbibing new technologies, keeping pace with advancements in warfare. Gone are the days when people fought across sectors with guns and rifles. We are going to see a lot of non-contact warfare happening.
• Government supports and plans to modernize the military through AI is a result of years of groundwork. Bold policies, dedicated budgets, policy changes and the thrust towards indigenisation, have helped create an atmosphere of cutting-edge innovation and collaboration.
• This joint effort among industry both public and private, research organisations, academic institutions, start-ups and innovators has helped create many unique technological products based on AI in the areas of data, logistics, surveillance, weapons and many more.
• The introduction of autonomy in weapon systems, in ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance), data management, can be a huge asset in stopping terrorism, installing counter-terrorism measures, protecting soldiers. In fact, AI in defence can change combat and conflict at the deepest levels.

AI in Recent Conflicts

• The Russian Warship Moskva was sunk in the black sea by a drone named  Bayraktaras claimed by Ukraine and US .Cyber-attacks on Ukrainian’s communication system by Russia, Clearview AI used by Ukraine for facial recognition to identify the dead, and many other technologies are being tested in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The hacking of defence, space and communication installation has become a new regime in operation that invokes a counter deterrent regime.
• In the current ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, drone assaults have replaced the use of fighter jets in confined areas. Soldier equipment is geared with sensors that can tell how much ammunition is left, the health of the armor, and many more.

The Exponential Rise of AI in India

• The economic potential of the deployment of AI has been widely highlighted by policymakers, technologists, academics and civil society around the world. AI technologies are on course to become the most powerful agents of transformation in human history.
• AI is being embraced by an increasing number of businesses, individuals and even governments to boost productivity and raise efficiency. It will not only reshape the global economic and technological landscape but also every aspect of our daily lives.
• For India, the fifth-largest economy in the world and a young nation, it is imperative to be prepared to answer the challenges of AI, leverage it to solve social problems, and move towards greater economic prosperity. AI is expected to add USD 967 billion to the Indian economy by 2035 and USD 450-500 billion to India’s GDP by the next decade, accounting for 10 per cent of the country’s USD 5 trillion GDP target

Responsible AI for all

• The Government of India has taken concrete steps to encourage the adoption of AI responsibly and build public trust in using this technology, placing the idea of ‘AI for All’ at the core of our National Strategy for AI.
• The Government of India organised Responsible AI for Social Empowerment (RAISE) in 2020, a first-of-its-kind global meeting of minds on Artificial Intelligence to drive India’s vision and roadmap for social transformation, inclusion and empowerment through responsible AI. It was attended by over 79,000 stakeholders from academia, research, industry and government representatives from 147 participating countries. The summit also welcomed 320 distinguished speakers from 21 countries participating in the event. The RAISE 2020 Summit was a global success and has been followed up with initiatives like AI Pe Charcha and Digital India Dialogues, which brings together experts from industry and practitioners to showcase use cases and examples of applications of AI for improving services. Recently, the Government has launched AI For All (aifor-all.in), an initiative that aims to create a basic understanding of AI for all.

AI uses in India

• Artificial Intelligence in India is addressing societal needs in areas such as healthcare, education, agriculture, smart cities, and infrastructure, including smart mobility and transportation.
• It is helping push technology frontiers through the creation of new knowledge and in developing and deploying applications. As per a NASSCOM report, India ranks first in terms of Artificial Intelligence skill penetration and AI talent concentration, which is also the highest among all G20 and OECD countries.
• A leader in the deployment of digital public infrastructure, India is set to accommodate AI into its folds to yield greater service excellence. In agriculture, AI is being employed through techniques such as weather pattern modelling and geospatial imaging to optimise crop yields. The medical field is improving medical image analysis to detect life-threatening illnesses earlier and enable more effective treatment plans. In the education sector, new AI-powered technologies are helping the identification of at-risk pupils, forecasting enrollment, and prognosticating outcomes.
• The Government of India has been at the forefront of applying some of these cutting-edge AI technologies in areas from e-Governance, agriculture, healthcare, education, finance, and banking to law enforcement. AI-powered tools like MyGov Corona Helpdesk, Aarogya Setu, Digi Locker, Digi Yatra and Co-Win are some examples of how the Government is leveraging AI and data to address big challenges. Alongside deployment, the Government has also focused on evangelizing and laying the foundation for building a strong AI-ready future generation.

Government steps to promote AI

• The Indian Government has also been supportive of the expansion of the AI sector. The Government’s National Informatics Centre (NIC) provides cloud-based platforms to facilitate AI services such as AIManthan which specialises in deep learning models, AI-Vani which is suited for chatbots and voice services, and AI-Satyapikaanan which is optimised for biometric technologies like face recognition.
• The National Artificial Intelligence Portal and the National AI Mission have been developed to encourage the development and adoption of AI throughout the nation. The MeitY Startup Hub and the National e-Government Plan are positioned to further the cause of information technology.
• Further, INDIAai (the National AI Portal of India), a joint venture by MeitY, NEGD and NASSCOM, has been set up to prepare the nation for an AI future. It is the single central knowledge hub on artificial intelligence and allied fields for aspiring entrepreneurs, students, professionals, academics, and everyone else. India has curated a booklet as a basic introduction to AI that a person of any age and background can comprehend the basics. Scan the QR code to read the booklet FutureSkills PRIME is another B2C framework by the Government for re-skilling/ up-skilling IT professionals in 10 emerging areas including Artificial Intelligence.
• The Government has also initiated the ‘Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme’ which promotes research in areas including Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
• To foster innovation through research, the Government has created several ‘Centres of Excellence’ on various Emerging Technologies including Artificial Intelligence. This will allow leading industry players to partner in conducting interdisciplinary research and develop cutting-edge applications and scalable problem solutions in areas of agriculture, health, and sustainable cities.
• To empower government school students with appropriate newage tech mindset, relevant skillsets and access to required tool sets, Responsible AI for Youth Program has been launched and over 11,000 Government school children were imparted training in AI.
• For research and development in AI, Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) has two dedicated laboratories, Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR), Bengaluru and DRDO Young Scientist Laboratory (DYSL)-AI, Bengaluru for application oriented research in AI.
• India has also joined the league of leading economies including the USA, UK, EU, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, and Singapore as a founding member of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), which is an international and multistakeholder initiative to guide the responsible development and use of AI, grounded in human rights, inclusion, diversity, innovation, and economic growth.

Government adoption of AI

• Digital India BHASHINI: Digital India BHASHINI, as India’s Artificial Intelligence (AI)- led language translation platform, will enable massive citizen engagement to build multilingual datasets through a crowd-sourcing initiative called Bhasha Daan. It aims to build a National Public Digital Platform for languages and seeks to enable easy access to the internet and digital services in Indian languages, including voice-based access, and help the creation of content in Indian languages. The platform will catalyse the entire digital ecosystem and is a giant step towards realising the goal of Digital Government
• City Commute:In November 2022, Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd introduced QR-ticketing service powered by AI automation. It is an automated text platform on WhatsApp which offers ticket and metro rail pass booking. Users can enquire about routes and ticket prices, and register their unified payments interface (UPI)-linked bank accounts to buy tickets and passes for journeys.
• AI-enabled Chatbots: The Government is increasingly adopting the usage of AIenabled chatbots for various services. These chatbots work as conversational interfaces that mimic human interactions with customers. Indian Railways has AskDisha chatbot for the benefit of the users of the ticketing website www.irctc.co.in and tourism website www.irctc tourism.com, where customers can ask queries by voice as well as text. MyGov Helpdesk, an AIenabled chatbot on WhatsApp, empowered people with COVIDrelated information and vaccination and now provides access to Digilocker documents. UMANG app of the Government has also launched its voice-based chatbot that allows users to ask questions in Hindi and English, and through voice or text, about various Government services. National Payments Corporation of India’s DigiSaathi also uses AI to provide assistance to users with digital payment product and services queries.
• Indian Railways: Indian Railways has introduced the ‘Ideal Train Profile’, an AI-enabled system, to maximise the capacity utilisation and revenue generation in reserved mail express trains by regularly analysing the demand pattern of every single train. Developed by the Centre of Railways Information System (CRIS), the AI programme takes into account various factors such as train origin and destination, timings, class of accommodation, and availability of alternative trains to automate the best possible ticket allocation and reduce wait lists. The system will also help zonal railways to conduct periodic review of the train quotas to address the changing demand mix on account of holidays, festivals, seasons, etc.
• Traffic Management: States like Goa, Kerala, Karnataka, and Delhi have or are planning to use AI for traffic management and road safety. Intelligent Traffic Management Systems (ITMS) helps the traffic police in security, signal management, and enforcing traffic rules effectively and send auto-generated challans to the violators with minimum human interventions. Some of these systems are expected to include high resolution cameras with sensor based real-time traffic volume count technology.
• iRASTE for Road Safety: In order to make Indian roads more safe and reduce accidents, predictive AI is being used to identify risks on the road and to provide a collision alert system to communicate timely alerts to drivers. Started as a pilot project in Nagpur City of Maharashtra has seen the implementation of Government’s project iRASTE (Intelligent Solutions for Road Safety through Technology and Engineering). This system identifies potential accident-causing scenarios while driving a vehicle and alerts drivers about the same with the help of the Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS).The system identifies ‘greyspots’ by data analysis and mobility analysis by continuously monitoring dynamic risks on the entire road network. The system also conducts continuous monitoring of roads and designs engineering fixes to correct existing road blackspots for preventive maintenance and improved road infrastructure.
• Agriculture: AI in agriculture is helping in detection of pests and weeds, precision farming with the help of predictive analytics, crop health assessment through drones, soil monitoring system, price forecasting of crops based on historical data, and weather forecast to predict unfavourable weather conditions. AI is a rapidly growing field with a wide range of career opportunities. In India, the demand for AI professionals is expected to grow significantly in the coming years owing to the increasing adoption of AI by businesses across a variety of industries, including healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and retail. Some of the most in-demand AI jobs in India include data scientist, machine learning engineer, robotics engineer, Natural Language Processing (NLP) engineer, computer vision engineer, AI researcher, AI product manager, AI consultant and AI entrepreneur. The skills required to work with AI vary depending on the specific role, but there are some general skills that are essential for anyone who wants to work in this field, such as programming, mathematics, and data science.

Conclusion

• This is just the beginning of the technologies used in war. Nations are building the best technologies to dominate the whole world without seeing the risk of invoking the robotic era. Giving machine a brain will erase the human race. Imagine a robot designed with an AI system that can work on its failure and update itself for the best accuray.
• Moreover, some of the models are already developed and scientists are very much aware of the disasters that can come their way.  Future military applications will also heavily rely on artificial intelligence. It will be employed considerably more than people to boost operating speed, decrease workload, and improve production.
• India also boasts one of the most thriving start-up ecosystems in the world, with dozens of unicorns deploying AI-powered tools in their core services. They have widened the scope of India’s AI strategy to build tools for India and the world, especially the global south.
• When it comes to technology, India has been a paradox. The country developed advanced digital computers early and has highly advanced and cost-effective space programmes. Yet until just a few decades ago, the nation lagged in its digital transformation and accessibility.
• Today, India’s government is pushing to put digital technologies at the core of its inclusive development, partly through widespread internet access and one of the world’s most affordable data pricing schemes. As a result, some fantastic solutions for India’s age-old problems are coming to light.In the years to come, the AI market is all set to grow further, driven by the increasing use of cloud-based applications and ever-expanding benefits being realised from AI-driven decision-making.

Leaders are changing the rules of conducting business in India. Operations are becoming more fast-paced to keep up with the changing dynamics of the tech industry and AI is playing a huge part in this. In a nutshell, it is quite evident that the Indian industry leaders are leveraging AI to its best.