AI pioneer Yann LeCun, Chief AI Scientist at Meta, spoke on the pivotal role India must play in the future of artificial intelligence (AI) development, but stressed that the country needs to focus on building the necessary infrastructure, talent pool and garnering government support.
“There’s a lot of work to do, particularly in India, for setting up the infrastructure, training people with the required expertise, and also convincing decision-makers in government to embrace this approach,” said LeCun at Build With AI Summit in Bengaluru.
LeCun’s message points to a larger vision of how AI development will increasingly rely on a distributed, global approach, with countries like India playing an essential part. He said that the AI models of tomorrow won’t just be built by a small number of US-based companies but will emerge from collaboration across a wide range of nations.
LeCun said he envisions a future where AI systems are trained in data centres spread across the globe — "in India, in North America, in Europe, all across Asia, and Africa."
LeCun’s Vision For India
LeCun’s remarks stress on the importance of India ramping up its technological infrastructure and AI talent pool to take on a leading role in this global AI ecosystem. He pointed out the need for more data centres, AI training facilities, and skilled professionals who can contribute to both local and international AI projects.
With its pool of technical talent and rapidly growing digital economy, India is already seen as a player in the tech world. However, LeCun’s comments may possibly mean that while India has potential, there are still gaps that need to be addressed in order to fully capitalise on the opportunities AI presents.
To bridge this gap, LeCun suggested that India should focus not only on enhancing technical capabilities but also on fostering collaboration between the government and the private sector. This would involve decision-makers embracing AI as a national priority and allocating the necessary resources to ensure its development is on par with global standards.
LeCun is also optimistic about India’s growing influence in AI research. He acknowledged the country’s strong technical foundation and lauded the contributions of Indian researchers to the global AI community. “There is a lot of talent in India. We see a lot of people from India making major contributions, technical and scientific contributions to AI,” he said.
India has long been known for its highly skilled workforce in the technology sector, and LeCun’s comments suggest that this talent is already contributing to some of the most cutting-edge AI research globally. However, to maintain this momentum, it is crucial for India to continue investing in education and training programmes that can produce even more AI experts.
The demand for AI talent in India is expected to more than double, rising from 6,00,000–6,50,000 professionals to over 1.25 million between 2022 and 2027. The AI market is projected to expand at a rapid pace, with growth rates of 25–35 per cent during this period, as per a Deloitte report
India's Linguistic Diversity Through AI
LeCun also touched upon one of the most unique AI challenges for India — its linguistic diversity. India is home to more than 700 languages, and AI-powered natural language processing (NLP) technologies can play a crucial role in ensuring that these languages thrive in the digital age. LeCun observed how AI models like LLaMA (Meta’s large language model) are being fine-tuned to translate and transcribe various Indian languages.
“I saw a bunch of projects, particularly in natural language study. So, systems that are using Llama... to translate languages of India,” LeCun noted. He went on to speak on how this kind of work is crucial for regions like India, where linguistic diversity is both a challenge and an opportunity. By developing AI that can understand and process regional languages, India can ensure that its rich cultural heritage is preserved in the digital era.
LeCun said he believes that AI has the potential to support cultural preservation, particularly in linguistically diverse nations like India. AI models can be used to digitise, translate, and make accessible languages that are not well-represented online, ensuring their continued use. “That would enable those languages to survive and help preserve culture,” he said.
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