New Delhi: The India AI Impact Summit commenced Monday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi assuring that the outcomes from the gathering of world AI giants will help shape a “progressive, innovative and opportunity-driven” future.
“AI today is transforming several sectors, including healthcare, education, agriculture, governance and enterprise. The AI Impact Summit will enrich global discourse on diverse aspects of AI, such as innovation, collaboration, responsible use and more,” PM Modi said in a post on X on Monday.
The PM also inaugurated the exhibition at the AI Summit on Monday evening, where startups and innovators working in the field of AI will be displaying their work through the period of the summit.
The India AI Impact Summit opened at Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam with packed halls and long queues. The global summit will continue until February 20, with global tech leaders, policymakers, innovators, and tech enthusiasts participating. S Krishnan, Secretary, Union Ministry of Electronics and IT, said that there was an “overwhelming interest” from people from India and across the world to participate in the summit.
“We have got over 2.5 lakh registrations. We did not anticipate such an overwhelming interest. People want to be a part of this, so we have not restricted the entry,” Krishnan said.
‘Sarvajana Hitaya, Sarvajana Sukhaya’
On the first day of the summit, discussions focused on aspects of AI impacting health, media, defence and skill development. In the coming days, global leaders, including the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai, and CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, will also be attending the summit.
Marine Collins Ragnet, AI lead and senior researcher at New York University’s (NYU) Peace Research and Education Programme (PREP), said that the AI Summit hosted by India is a leap in becoming an AI sovereign economy.
“The approach that India has taken to become a sovereign in AI development is incredible. It is also in a position to become a broker between the Global South and Global North and to set an example in this front,” Ragnet, who was a panellist in one of the sessions, said.
Ahead of the inauguration, PM Modi welcomed the world to the summit.
“Bringing the world together to discuss AI! Starting today, India hosts the AI Impact Summit at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi. I warmly welcome world leaders, captains of industry, innovators, policymakers, researchers and tech enthusiasts from across the world for this Summit. The theme of the Summit is Sarvajana Hitaya, Sarvajana Sukhaya or welfare for all, happiness for all, reflecting our shared commitment to harnessing Artificial Intelligence for human-centric progress,” the PM said in a post on X.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)