Background:
- The role of AI in creative fields, IT, and societal applications is evolving rapidly.
- Concerns exist over automation replacing human roles, especially in low-level IT tasks.
- India has taken a distinct approach by prioritizing AI for societal needs, especially linguistic and digital public goods.
Relevance : GS 3(Technology)
AI in Media & Creativity:
- Despite AI’s growth, media and creative industries will remain human-led.
- Issues like copyright concerns and trust in human creativity will necessitate regulatory guardrails.
Impact on IT Industry:
- Low-level tasks (testing, QA, software generation) will be highly automated.
- Human oversight remains essential in software code generation and enterprise flexibility.
- Potential shift back to custom in-house applications instead of off-the-shelf software.
- Data annotation and enrichment will be a major opportunity for Indian IT firms.
India’s AI Priorities:
- Overcoming languagebarriers is a major focus (e.g., Bhashini, Anuvadini, AI4Bharat).
- Startups leading AI development include Paralaxiom (vision AI), Pienomial (life sciences), and Innoplexus (drug discovery).
- Government-backed AI initiatives (e.g., Sarvam AI for UIDAI, mVaak for voice modeling).
Challenges for Indian AI Startups:
- Funding, access to computingpower, and lack of public datasets.
- Ethical movement “Data Daan” launched to encourage voluntary data sharing.
Forward Linkages:
- Policy implications: AI regulations on copyright, ethical data use, and human oversight.
- Workforce transition: Need for reskilling programs as low-level IT tasks get automated.
- AI in governance: Expansion of AI-based digital public goods (DPGs) like UPI for societal benefits.
- Global AI positioning: India’s AI strategy focusing on localized, ethical, and public-good models instead of generic LLMs.
