Artificial intelligence (AI) will be equal or even bigger than the steam engine revolution and India is going be to at the forefront of AI deployment, IBM chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna said at a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) event on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos today.
Krishna added that India’s growth in AI deployment will be driven by the scale of data sets the country has and the government’s initiatives in AI, including the establishment of AI centers of excellence.
“India will be at the forefront of AI deployment. Given the scale of India’s data sets, it will be remarkably useful. I have to applaud the Indian government’s in initiatives in AI, and building AI centres of excellence,” he said.
AI, he said, is going to be a global force for good. “We are a firm believer that India will be massive beneficiary of AI. Workforce that is going to deploy AI will come from India,” he added.
According to Krishna, for this to happen, skilling and digital infrastructure will play a huge role. “Using digital infrastructure you can deliver skilling in small cities,” he said. “We can see 20-40% productivity for a programmer who embraces AI as opposed to one who doesn’t,” he said.
Speaking at another event, Krishna said the impact of AI is not a distant future scenario but an immediate reality. “This is not two, three years out, you’ve got to get going now,” he urged, underscoring the urgency for businesses and individuals to start incorporating AI into their operations to remain competitive.
Krishna said that AI can impact customer service in a big way. “Whether you’re writing emails back, whether you’re answering phone calls, whether you’re trying to answer really tough questions—all the way to people calling in with tough problems, and can you get them through those quicker with a higher satisfaction than without using artificial intelligence.”
A recent report by International Monetary Fund (IMF) revealed that AI could impact 40 per cent of all jobs across the globe. The report also revealed that higher-income earners (in countries including India) are more likely to benefit from AI adoption, raising questions about the potential exacerbation of income inequality.