India is doing fantastic work in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), said Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates on Thursday. He also expressed his admiration for India’s digital public infrastructure and its efforts in areas like vaccines, diagnostics, agriculture, and education. Gates was speaking in an interview with ANI, where he shared his views on India’s potential and challenges in the field of AI.
“Well, there’s a lot of fantastic AI work going on in this country. You have innovators like Nandan Nilekani who’s taking all that digital work and saying, OK, how does AI make that even better? You have groups like Wadhwani. You have the IIT groups that are very state of the art,” Gates said.
“In India, there will be a lot of fantastic leadership work in AI here. And when it’s helping the poorest in areas like health and agriculture, our foundation will be proud to help shape that and support it,” he added.
India is the World’s Leader in Vaccines and has a Flourishing Diagnostics Industry, Says Gates
Gates also praised India’s achievements in the field of vaccines and diagnostics, especially in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. He said that his foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is investing with its partners in India to come up with new vaccines and diagnostic tools.
“The rate of improvement in a lot of the key areas is very, very strong. You know, everyone knows that in vaccines, India’s the world’s leader, so we’re investing with our partners here to come up with lots of new vaccines. A diagnostics industry has come out of some of the work in the pandemic, so we’re partnering there as well,” he said.
Gates also mentioned the idea of digital connections that starts with Aadhaar and the bank accounts that are managed digitally, which he said is flourishing in India. He said that this digital public infrastructure can help in areas like agriculture, where farmers can be registered and given advance notice.
India can Help Other Countries Benefit from its Leadership and Innovation, Says Gates
Gates also suggested that India can play a role in helping other countries benefit from its leadership and innovation, especially in the G20 forum. He said that he spoke with the external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Thursday about what countries India can accelerate in getting some of the benefits that have been so incredible in India.
“So that Indian leadership is something other countries should benefit from. So going back to the G20, India stated its desire to help others. And we’re a partner with India. In fact, I spoke with the external affairs minister today about what countries could we accelerate. They are getting some of these benefits that have been so incredible here in India,” he said.
Gates also expressed his optimism about India’s future, saying that the country has a very bright future, no matter what the specialty is. He said that the AI advances will give opportunities and force people to think through these new systems in very deep ways.
“I think you have a very bright future. No matter what your specialty is – whether it is engineering, discovering new drugs, or policy work. The AI advances will give you opportunities and force you to think through these new systems in very deep ways,” he said.
