States May Soon Be Ranked On The Basis Of AI Readiness

The government may soon rank states on the basis of their artificial intelligence (AI) adoption to improve public service and policies, for which think tank NITI Aayog is mulling an AI readiness index, reported The Economic Times.

The government is keen to cash in on the potential of AI and assess the ability of different states to use it. Therefore, there is a need for an index and the parameters for ranking will be finalised soon, a government official told the paper.

Parameters are likely to include digital skills, innovation and existing capabilities with respect to data and its management. “The index is likely to even identify challenges for each state in the adoption of AI and recommend possible areas for improvement for every state,” the official added.

This comes after NITI Aayog rolled out rankings for health, education and water composite in the past five years. This index will be one of the few it plans to launch in its second term to continue with its outcome-based assessment of the states.

As per NITI Aayog, the Centre must invest Rs 7,500 crore over three years in the initial stages and establish a task force to supervise the rollout of AI in the country and the cabinet will discuss this once the new government takes over.

AI, if used effectively, can add almost $957 billion to India’s GDP by 2035 and push its annual growth up by 1.3 percentage points in the same period. Amitabh Kant, CEO of the think tank, has already asked state governments to identify sectors where AI can be used.―Money Control