Mumbai: In a first in the country, the State government will be setting up an institute for artificial intelligence (AI) in Mumbai. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will unveil the plan for the institute during the Magnetic Maharashtra Summit, and at the Global Economic Conference in Canada next month.
“We have discussed cooperation in artificial intelligence and other port-led development. Maharashtra has already become the first state to unveil a FinTech Policy,” said the Chief Minister, while setting up a joint working group for AI cooperation with the government of Canada on Tuesday.
The meeting between Canadian Minister of International Relations, Christine St-Pierre, and Mr. Fadnavis was held on AI cooperation in the industrial and service sectors.
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Officials said the AI institute will give a fresh impetus to the ‘fourth industrial revolution’, and promote Mumbai as an investment destination in innovations and data analysis. “We want to transform the way businesses operate,” said an official at the Chief Minister’s Office.
At the Magnetic Maharashtra Summit, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 18, a separate pavilion has been dedicated to emerging technologies and how it could be used to create jobs.
The State is already experimenting with AI in the health sector, and has plans to involve a Mumbai-based tech startup to use AI-powered X-ray, MRI, and CT scan machines. The AI involves application of deep-learning algorithm to highlight deviations in medical imaging.
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Officials said for now they are looking at AI to be used in the defence sector, which will be given a special space at the Magnetic Maharashtra event.
But experts said India has a long way to go before AI could be fully applied in the public sector. “For effective use of AI in the public sector, the government must first have structured data, and give its cloud access to the public. Once this architecture is in place, AI at the most basic level could be applied to power saving and defence equipment. The policy making could also be streamlined once data is structured for an AI use,” said Toshendra Sharma, Delhi-based AI and Blockchain entrepreneur, and founder of data-storing site, RecordsKeeper.