By Amit Singh
When I learned that the Beatles would be releasing their last record in John Lennons voice, I was both thrilled and baffled. It astounded me to learn that Paul McCartney, one of the two remaining Beatles, used artificial intelligence (AI) to John Lennon’s voice from an old tape in order to produce it. Artificial intelligence-generated pictures of mythological and historical figures are all over social media. There are photo filters to reimagine oneself in different avatars. The creative exclusivity of the human mind appears to have been compromised by AI-generated music and images.
The buzz of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning is not new. The temptation to harness the power of data has increased manifold as a result of the excessive amount of data being generated. It is impossible for humans to synthesize them at such scale. In this ‘techade’, machines and bots may take over many of the complex activities which were reserved for humans and deliver faster results. Like other sectors, ample uses of AI/ML have been identified in the government and public service delivery. Implementation of AI in the government is evolving steadily, and AI has enormous potential to bring extensive transformation in every aspect of government functioning. When AI is applied to solve societal problems coupled with a robust strategy, it can help in improving delivery of citizen-centric schemes, improving service and operations quality, ensuring proactive governance, increasing efficiency, bringing savings to the exchequers by eliminating leakages and pilferages.
Government going an extra mile towards AI
Various government departments in India have either initiated or contemplating to leverage AI/ML to infuse innovation, detect fraud and bring efficiency. The Government of India has initiated the National Program on AI and making significant investments to develop AI solutions. 1 The National Health Authority is leveraging AI-based fraud analytics to prevent and detect fraudulent cases in insurance claims for treatment of beneficiaries. 2 By utilising the power of artificial intelligence, Bhashini (National Language Translation Mission) aspires to develop a distinctive Indian language technology platform, related services, and products. Machine Translation (MT) engines and Unified Language Interface (ULI) have been developed for translation of content from English and Hindi to other Indian Languages. 3 The Income Tax Department is using AI to detect instances of tax evasion.
Need to untap the potential to excel in AI Journey
There is evidently a clarion call to identify use cases for AI/ML and demonstrate its benefits in government. However, the overarching, common philosophy, principles, policies, SOPs are still evolving and the government policymakers and thinktanks need to crystalise them for all to follow. Without assessing current state of maturity of each department in terms of its technology, data and skills, it may be inconsequential to join the bandwagon.
A holistic perspective on adoption of AI in Government Landscape
While successful implementation of AI requires experienced talent pool, adequate infrastructure, digital upskilling, undertaking proof-of-concepts etc. yet at the same time, clear alignment of use cases to the business problems, sensitization of policy makers/administrators, mobilization of all stakeholders, appropriate governance over the AI applications, establishing partnerships and promoting research are critical. As we move ahead towards the adoption and application of Al/ML in our day-to-day functioning, it is also crucial to assess the aftermaths in the upcoming times.
Most of the government initiatives in India are at a nascent stage in the AI journey i.e. they are either in the beginning of applying analytics or are expanding their analytical competency. Although the government is doing an excellent job with these projects, a whole-of-government approach will enable achieve faster and better results than a segmented approach.
Need of the hour
A close collaboration with the technology industry (from tech giants to start-ups) is necessary to catalyse the AI journey in government and increase the pace of its adoption. Knowledge & skill-sharing, licensing or technology transfer of AI tools & technologies developed and deployed by technology partners elsewhere can be adopted for use in government. On similar lines, the government can publish anonymised raw data and Open APIs of the AI models in public domain for technology firms to build AI-use cases and create new interfaces and business models. Government needs to decentralise and create Centres of Excellence in various parts of the country focussed on R&D and support the smaller, niche start-ups with the required knowhow, common tools & technology platforms. Sooner rather than later the Experimental AI should lead to experiential AI.
The author is Executive Director, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP
Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of Financial Express Online. Reproducing this content without permission is prohibited.
