“We are beginning to see the potential AI can have, especially for a country like India… both the economic and social benefit of solving problems at a population scale. The potential that AI has to solve for a country like ours, that is immense,” Roma Datta Chobey, Managing Director, Google India, underlines how AI will be one of the key focus areas for the company in the coming year. She was speaking to The Indian Express on the sidelines of the tenth edition of Google For India, coinciding with the twentieth anniversary of the search and advertising behemoth’s entry into India. At Google For India this time, Chobey said AI will be a huge focus for the company. “When AI is going to be such an important part of our society, economic fabric and our day-to-day lives, how it works and what could be the possible negative impact is also very important for us to see it is done responsibly, sustainably and obviously inclusively.” She added that along with language inclusiveness, agriculture and health will also be areas of focus for Google. “Obviously, we don't have all the answers today, but there's potential of solving some really big challenges in these two sectors, which can impact Indians across the length and breadth of the country,” she said, adding that a lot of research work is happening in partnership with academia from IIT Bombay to IIT Madras, “not just in terms of grants, but also working on white papers and on deep research”. Google.org also announced a $4 million grant to Central Square Foundation for AI skilling, and a partnership with Rocket Learning to develop an AI-powered tutor for young children. One of Google’s big announcements this time is on skilling, where is its commitment to skilling 10 million Indians on AI through the AI Skills House program, with courses in English and Hindi initially. “We are starting with the basics because we feel that India already has a rich talent pool. We are very focused on India use cases, and that's why providing these courses in local languages is important.” She said the focus will be on what will work for India, what kind of jobs will be able to use this. On her focus as the head of Google in India, Chobey said: “What is good for India is good for Google. That's what we believe in. Making AI real and beneficial for every individual, every business, and working for those large, important sectors of the economy, all of that’s what's good for India. And I'm very proud of the fact that there's lots happening in today in India which is not just solving for India, it's solving for the globe.” Google for India 2024: What all has been announced Launch of Gemini AI assistant in English and Hindi, with plans to expand to 9 Indian languages. Weather and flood alerts in Google Maps to improve user safety. Launch of Product Studio in Google Merchant Center to help small businesses create creatives easily. Partnerships with Muthoot and Aditya Birla Group to offer gold loans and personal loans through GPay. Integration of Abha IDs with Google Wallet, in partnership with NHA. Launch of Open Network AI Agent framework, starting with skilling and agriculture. Introduction of Gemini 1.5 Flash to enable Indian organisations to store and run complex AI models locally. Launch of DPI in a Box initiative, in partnership with Ekstep Foundation. Opening of Google Safety Engineering Center in India to focus on online safety and security. Skilling 10 million Indians on AI through the AI Skills House program, with courses in English and Hindi initially.
