Jaipur, Sep 29 (IANS): Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday called for tapping the potential of revolutionary technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) to deliver benefits to the people and enhance their quality of life.
Naidu urged the educational institutions, researchers and developers to come out with practical AI solutions in the fields of agriculture, health and education.
Enumerating the possible applications for AI, Naidu suggested that industry and developers should work towards finding solutions for precision agriculture to ensure quality farm output, to bring about efficient grading of the produce, and to enable better price discovery for farmers.
He also suggested exploring AI-based smart solutions in health such as remote diagnosis, and automatic translation of English texts to Indian languages in education.
"If such solutions can be scaled up, even a small gain in efficiency and productivity can bring positive changes in the lives of millions of people," Naidu said.
Addressing a gathering at IIT Jodhpur after laying the foundation for a fabrication laboratory for Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT), Naidu remarked that technologies like AI and AIoT have been revolutionising many sectors of the global economy since the last decade.
Touching upon the economic potential of AI, Naidu noted that AI has the potential to add $957 billion or 15 per cent of the current gross value added to India's economy by 2035.
The Vice President suggested making basic courses in computing and data science mandatory for students across disciplines to keep them abreast of the latest technological developments.
"This is absolutely important in today's data driven world," Naidu added.
Naidu also lauded the recent decision of 14 engineering colleges across eight states to offer courses in regional languages and called for more such professional courses in higher education in Indian languages.
He also said that AI holds immense potential in promotion of Indian languages by way of automatic translation from English and other languages.
On the occasion, Naidu inaugurated the Jodhpur City Knowledge and Innovation Cluster (JCKIC) at IIT Jodhpur. Noting that India has risen from the rank of 81 in 2015 to 46 in 2021 in the Global Innovation Index, Naidu said, "Innovation should become the national mantra for development."
During his visit to IIT Jodhpur, the Vice President also interacted with the local artisans. Praising the Rajasthani artisans for their talent in traditional crafts, he called for providing better marketing conditions for their artworks and handicrafts.