“India is a force for good” as it is a place where artificial intelligence platforms, ideas and intellectual property are being generated, rather than just consumed, and where initiatives like the Unified Payments Interface and other digital public infrastructure (DPI) help people access capital and health solutions, US ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said.
The US no longer just leads from the front but also follows, Garcetti said here Wednesday, while visiting AI research institute Wadhwani AI, which is funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). “Take DPI, the digital public infrastructure that is allowing people to have access to capital … We’re learning how to lead side by side, and sometimes even leading from behind, following India's work in putting out UPI, using DPI to help health solutions.”
Some of the technologies being developed in India can help America, he said. “Maybe some of these technologies, since we're engaged with them, will help us in America do the same. The relationship where it's just the United States helping India is no longer our relationship. It’s India helping the United States,” Garcetti said, adding that the India-US relationship is not only equal but exponential.
The ambassador said he was impressed by how limited resources could be used effectively in India to develop technology, particularly that can protect people by detecting health trends, tuberculosis and disease outbreaks, and meeting human needs.
“I'm very, very excited about the future and the way technology will help us strengthen this already very strong relationship,” he added.
At Wadhwani AI, he was given a tour of the AI solutions developed by the institute that included a “cough against TB” screening tool and automated disease surveillance capabilities.
The US supports India’s goal to eradicate TB by 2025 and the AI-based technology being developed to allow even villagers to screen to get tested for TB is impressive, Garcetti said. The USAID has been supporting the development of multiple AI solutions in areas such as tuberculosis, telemedicine and clinical decision support systems, outbreak monitoring, and screening and diagnostics. It also provides technical guidance and funding for three AI centres of excellence in India.
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