India has successfully built a digital public infrastructure for more than 1.4 billion people at a very low cost Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India

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NEW DELHI: India has one of the world’s largest AI talent pools and we are willing to share experience and expertise to ensure that the future of AI is for everyone on the planet said Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a global AI summit organized in Paris on Tuesday.

"India has successfully built a digital public infrastructure for more than 1.4 billion people at a very low cost." This, he said, "is built around an open and accessible network. It has regulations and a wide range of applications in order to modernize our economy, reform governance, and transform the lives of our people."

"We have made digital commerce democratic and accessible to all. This vision is the foundation of India's national AI mission," he said, adding that "India has built an AI mission for good, and for all. Today, India leads in AI adaption and techno-legal solutions on data privacy. We are constantly developing AI applications for public good."

Highlighting India's pragmatic approach to Artificial Intelligence in good governance, the prime minister said that "India has one of the world's largest AI talent pools. We are also building our own large language model in AI keeping in mind our diversity."

"India also has a unique public-private partnership model for Artificial Intelligence," PM Modi said, adding that "India is willing to share its experience and expertise to ensure that the future of AI is for everyone on the planet." "We are at the dawn of the AI age that will shape the future of humanity. 

Some people worry about machines becoming superior to human beings in terms of intelligence, but no one holds the key to our collective future and shared destiny other than all of us - humans. That sense of responsibility is what must guide us," PM Modi said.

Prime Minister Modi stressed on innovation and how "AI can help transform millions of lives". This he said can be done in the fields of "healthcare, education, agriculture, and science." He added that "AI can also help create a world in which the journey to sustainable development goals become easier and faster."

PM Modi also spoke about the concern of job losses due to AI and highlighted how this must be tackled. "We must pull together our resources and talent and develop open source systems that enhance trust and transparency and develop quality datasets, free from biases, in order to benefit the world. AI must be about people-centric applications. We must address concerns related to cyber security, disinformation, and deep fakes," PM Modi said, as leaders from across the world listened.

"For technology to be effective and useful for humankind, it must be deeply rooted in local ecosystems," Prime Minister Modi said, adding that "AI's most-feared disruption is 'loss of jobs'. But history has shown that work does not disappear due to technology." He went on to say that "The nature of jobs change with time, and new types of jobs are created." "We need to invest heavily on skilling and re-skilling of our people for an AI-driven future."

AI needs to be sustainable "There is no doubt that the high-energy intensity of AI needs to be scrutinized. This will require green power to fuel its future. India and France have formed the International Solar Alliance in order to harness the Sun to ensure there is plenty green energy supply for future technologies."

Conservation of energy is key for the future of AI, PM Modi said, giving the example of a human brain. "A human brain can do everything from poetry to complex mathematics at a fraction of the energy needed even by an ordinary light bulb." That is what the AI revolution must aim for, he noted. At the end of the summit, PM Modi congratulated President Macron for hosting the inaugural summit and said that India now looks forward to host the next AI Action Summit.

Limitation of AI Prime Minister Narendra Modi drew attention to flaws in Artificial Intelligence. “If you upload your medical report to an AI app, it can explain in simple language, free of any jargon, what it means for your health.” But then came the surprising part.    

PM Modi pointed out, “If you ask the same app to draw an image of someone writing with their left hand, the app will most likely draw someone writing with their right hand.” The reason? AI is trained on datasets dominated by right-handed images. His statement highlights a deeper issue— despite AI’s rapid progress, it still struggles with certain human features, especially hands.  

PM Modi’s observation underscores a critical aspect of AI development: bias in training data. If AI tools are learning from incomplete or skewed datasets, they will continue to produce flawed outputs. As he emphasised, “While the positive potential of AI is absolutely amazing, there are many biases that we need to think carefully about.”