The Government of India launched the IndiaAI Mission to bolster India’s global leadership in AI and democratize the benefits of AI across all strata of society. To realise this vision, IndiaAI Mission has launched 7 key pillars to strengthen the domestic AI ecosystem.

One of the success stories is Doordarshan Kisan two AI anchors (AI Krish and AI Bhoomi). These are basically computers, which are exactly like a human and can read news 24 hours and 365 days without stopping or getting tired. These AI anchors can speak in fifty languages enabling farmer viewers to see these anchors in all the states of the country from Kashmir to Tamil Nadu and from Gujarat to Arunachal.

The objective of establishing DD Kisan Channel was to always keep the farmers informed about the changes in weather, global and local markets etc., so that farmers can make appropriate plans in advance and take right decisions on time. DD Kisan Channel is meeting these standards for the last 9 years.

The I&B Ministry

The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry is planning to introduce an Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)-powered integrated dashboard with the capability to analyse recent news stories for forecasting emerging trends.

For this I&B Ministry launched four portals for a ‘modernised media landscape’. The Ministry has requested for an Expression of Interest (EoI) by the interested parties for the design, development, implementation, and maintenance of the integrated dashboard. The EoI request states, “In today’s rapidly evolving media landscape, staying ahead of emerging news trends is essential for effective communication and public engagement. By leveraging AI and ML technologies, the Ministry aims to deploy a cutting-edge tool that can accurately predict future media trends based on patterns identified in historical data.” The dashboard would provide insights for implementing corrective measures and devising citizen-oriented communication strategies.

Key features of the multilingual content-supported tool will include historical data analysis, language analysis, real-time awareness, customisable alerts, social media integration for observing discussions, engagement, trends, data visualisation, security measures for ensuring data integrity and confidentiality, report generation, contextual sentiment analysis, and AI-enabled decision support system providing options for implementing countermeasures or corrective actions based on media feedback.

The dashboard is expected to have the facility of updates four times a day with all the four media coverage (print, electronic, online/digital, and social); scanning of more than 100 print and over 4,000 online publications based on keywords and over 200 YouTube accounts covering 16 major regional languages; topic, sector, ministry, trend-wise data segregation and report generation; and separate feeds for Editorials and Op-Eds.

Another EoI request is for the design, development, implementation, and maintenance of the AI&ML-based platform that will have capabilities to translate, transcribe, transliterate, and localise content in at least 12 Indian languages: Hindi, Bangla, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Urdu, and Assamese.

IndiaAI Mission

IndiaAI Mission has called for proposals in Second EoI Round to drive Ethical and Responsible AI Innovation. The ‘Safe & Trusted AI’ pillar within this initiative emphasizes the need for a balanced, technology-enabled, and India-specific approach to AI governance. This involves the development of indigenous technical tools, guidelines, frameworks, and standards that are contextualized to India’s unique challenges and opportunities as well as our social, cultural, linguistic, and economic diversity.

To advance this vision, the IndiaAI Independent Business Division (IBD) issued 1st round of Expression of Interest (EoI) and selected Eight Projects to promote responsible AI across a range of critical themes. These include Machine Unlearning, Synthetic Data Generation, AI Bias Mitigation, Privacy-Enhancing Tools, Explainable AI, AI Governance Testing, AI Ethical Certification and Algorithm Auditing Tools.

Further to provide an opportunity to explore the potential of AI in addressing critical challenges, IndiaAI has launched the 2nd round of Expression of Interest (EoI), open to Indian Academic Institutes/Organisations, Autonomous bodies, R&D Institutes/Organizations, Start-ups and Companies. (The deadline for application submission is 9th February 2025).

This initiative aligns with the Government of India’s vision of leveraging AI for inclusive growth. IndiaAI, an IBD (Independent Business Division) under the Digital India Corporation (DIC) of the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), is the implementation agency of the IndiaAI Mission, which aims to democratize AI’s benefits across all strata of society, bolster India’s global leadership in AI, foster technological self-reliance, and ensure ethical and responsible use of AI roving the Ministry’s strategic decision-making and communication strategies.