IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation has launched a ‘Centre for Human-Centric Artificial Intelligence’ (CHAI) to harness AI to amplify human potential, which could be a critical opportunity for India. The new centre’s activities will include technology development, aiding entrepreneurship development, human resource development, and international collaborations.
This newly-launched centre will help identify risks to inform future regulations, ensuring that India’s AI development is safe and responsible, especially in the Indian context while maximising innovation.
As per IIT Madras, the scope of the centre would be around three dimensions: enhancing human potential, protecting citizens and amplifying societal values which are embodied through culture and heritage.
Language models: A key focus will be on small language models better suited to smaller, domain-specific, and contextualised data sets.
— Languages: Especially in Indian languages, but more generally in non-English languages. This helps us to start locally but eventually be impactful globally.
— Responsible and Safe AI: Our research and development will focus on addressing issues related to privacy, biases, and ethical considerations, among others. This emphasis on responsible AI will ensure that our solutions are innovative but also ethical and safe.
Additionally, this centre will provide an opportunity for internships for students across the country to develop their skills on AI projects and solutions. Students within IIT Madras will be able to pursue their undergraduate, masters and PhD research projects and thesis with co-guidance from the Centre. This will aid in building capacity for AI talent in the country.
The centre was launched at IIT Madras Research Park in the presence of Lt Gen KS Brar, AVSM, GoC Dakshin Bharat, Prof V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, Dr M.J. Shankar Raman, CEO, IIT-M Pravartak Technologies Foundation, Prof Gaurav Raina, Chief Scientist, CHAI, students, researchers and other stakeholders.
To enhance human potential, the applications will include education, healthcare, financial services, transportation, and legal considerations, among others. Under the umbrella of protecting citizens, the applications will include aspects like cyber-security, cyber-fraud, and disinformation security. Such applications will also be important for strengthening democracy, IIT Madras stated.
