Artificial Intelligence and the Public Good
Artificial Intelligence and the Public Good
Publish Date: 2026-03-18 04:12:00
Source Domain: www.orfonline.org
- India’s AI Focus on Public Good: India is increasingly using AI to address societal challenges, encouraging innovation rooted in local knowledge and cultural traditions.
- Leadership and Policies: Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized indigenous AI development and social impact, guiding initiatives like ‘India’s AI Impact Startups’ at the AI Impact Summit 2026.
- AI Ecosystem Growth: With nearly 1.8 lakh start-ups and significant AI integration, India ranks highly in enterprise AI readiness and innovation.
- Strategic AI Initiatives: Efforts like Sarvam AI and BharatGen are building foundational AI systems aimed at public service and regional language support.
- AI Applications in Healthcare and Agriculture: AI is being used to develop localized medical systems and agricultural insights, addressing specific national needs.
- IndiaAI Ecosystem Development: The IndiaAI Mission is supporting public compute, data infrastructure, and sectoral centres to nurture AI-focused projects.
- AI Gaps and Challenges: India faces incomplete digital inclusion and institutional capacity issues, hindering full AI adoption despite high readiness in AI skills and enterprise usage intent.
- Path to Full AI Utilization: Future efforts should focus on public AI capacity building, infrastructure investment, and creating robust governance frameworks to enhance public trust and accountability in AI deployment.