Google Expands AI Initiatives in India, Breaking Language Barriers and Boosting Agriculture

New Delhi, Aug 16 (KNN) In a significant move to deepen its presence in the Indian market, Google is rolling out advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tools aimed at overcoming language barriers and enhancing agricultural practices, according to a senior company official.

Abhishek Bapna, Director of Product Management at Google DeepMind, emphasized the critical role of language in driving economic development during his recent visit to the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. 

"Language is very essential for economic development," Bapna stated, highlighting how language barriers can impede access to essential services like healthcare and banking.

To address this challenge, Google has launched Gemini (formerly known as Bard), an AI chatbot supporting over 40 global languages, including nine Indian languages: Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. 

The company is committed to improving language quality and expanding support for additional Indian languages in the future.

Bapna acknowledged the unique complexities of India's multilingual environment, where individuals often use multiple languages simultaneously. This presents a significant challenge for AI models, which must accurately identify and apply appropriate linguistic frameworks to generate precise responses.

To empower Indian developers, Google is expanding Project Vaani in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). This initiative provides developers with access to over 14,000 hours of speech data across 58 languages, collected from 80,000 speakers in 80 districts. 

Additionally, the company has introduced IndicGenBench, a comprehensive benchmark designed specifically for Indian languages to assess and refine language models for more effective use in the country.

In a parallel effort to support India's agricultural sector, Google is preparing to launch the Agricultural Landscape Understanding (ALU) Research API. This limited-availability tool aims to make agricultural practices more data-driven and efficient by enhancing farm yields, improving access to capital, and providing better market access for farm products.

"On agriculture, right now we are conducting a pilot with the Telangana government that is already underway. Once the pilot is complete, we plan to scale it up and engage actively with state governments," Bapna revealed. He emphasised that Google's agricultural initiatives are driven by two primary goals: improving livelihoods and addressing climate change through necessary interventions.

The ALU API is expected to offer granular landscape insights at the farm field level, potentially transforming India's agricultural ecosystem. Bapna noted that banks and insurance companies could also benefit from this technology, stating, "Right now our focus is to make sure that the technology works properly."

These initiatives underscore Google's commitment to leveraging AI technology to address critical challenges in language accessibility and agricultural productivity in India, potentially paving the way for significant economic and social advancements in the country.

(KNN Bureau)