India is being encouraged to prioritize the development of short-term courses in the fundamentals of artificial intelligence (AI) in order to skill 100 million people and prepare them for future jobs. The country currently ranks first in terms of AI skill penetration and talent concentration, but there is a shortage of AI skills across the spectrum, according to Nasscom. Indian IT industry veteran CP Gurnani has suggested running short-term, 7-day courses on the basics of AI to provide a foundation for advanced courses and tap into future opportunities. Gurnani, who recently joined the board of edtech major upGrad, believes that education needs to be AI-enabled and that students should have access to introductory AI courses for them to easily transition into advanced courses. He also emphasized the need to create smart content with the help of AI and to focus on global markets and empower more people to achieve efficiency and productivity.
There is recognition that the tech industry and academic institutions need to collaborate with governments globally to shape the future pipeline of talent for AI-related jobs. Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, stressed the importance of nurturing talent through the joint efforts of industry and academia. McKinsey data suggests that the potential economic value from AI tools could reach $26 trillion, but the availability of individuals with the required skills and capabilities to innovate in AI remains a limiting factor. As a result, there is a need for cutting-edge talent in the AI industry, particularly architects and designers of large-language models. To address this, countries and industries must work together to create a talent pool.
India is expected to experience a high demand for data science and AI professionals, with an estimated need for over 1 million professionals by 2024. However, the successful ramping up of AI skilling and initiatives at scale will require concerted efforts from the government, industry, and academia, said Debjani Ghosh, President of Nasscom. Gurnani added that while AI is a valuable technological tool, achieving optimum efficiency and productivity is a gradual process and cannot be accomplished overnight.
The source of the article is from the blog zaman.co.at