Embarking on Knowledge’s Odyssey: The Three-Day GPAI Summit Initiates at Bharat Mandapam!

India, as the Incoming Support Chair of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), stands at the forefront, proudly hosting the annual GPAI Summit from December 12-14, 2023, at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. The GPAI Summit begins today and unites representatives from 28 member countries and the European Union, forging an extraordinary platform for profound discussions on the urgent matters shaping the ever-evolving landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

With a laser focus on healthcare, priority sectors, and responsible AI, the morning sessions showcased the insights of over 25 speakers hailing from diverse countries and fields. In this intellectual tapestry, multiple parallel sessions addressed a myriad of pressing topics, setting the stage for a summit of unprecedented significance.

The morning session of the day, titled ‘Applications of AI in Priority Sectors,’ focused on the challenges and opportunities in the adoption of AI by industries to enhance competitiveness, explore the market potential of AI and promote its uptake across sectors. Keynote speakers included Shri Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO of Paytm and Ms Nivruti Rai, MD & CEO of Invest India. The session was moderated by Shri Kazim Rizvi, Founder of The Dialogue, and speakers included Ms Laila Cremona, Founder & CEO of The Medibay; Shri Aakrit Vaish, CEO of Haptik AI; Shri Samir Shah, Executive Vice Chair and Co-Founder of Dvara; Shri Narayanan Vaidyanathan, Head of Policy Development at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA); Dr Shailesh Kumar, Professor at Jio Institute, Shri Raghu Dharmaraju, CEO of ARTPARK at IISc and Mr David Weller, Senior Director of Emerging Technologies, Competitiveness, and Sustainable Policy at Google.

During the session, the discussion emphasized that Protein Identification and quantification from mass spectrometry data, combined with other omics data, is the solution for creating artificial proteins. The success of AI-powered Farm Assessment (Khet Score) & Monitoring (Khet Score Now), an AI-led historical farm assessment with live monitoring for early risk identification, which outperformed traditional lending bank scores, was discussed. It was shared that leveraging advanced AI and Machine Learning, Surabhi offers a unique, proprietary muzzle-based cattle identification solution. Dr Shailesh Kumar, Professor at Jio Institute, highlighted that Bharat runs on AI and consumers of AI should be aware of Bharat AI Stack and its use. The importance of platforms like No Code and Low Code, along with dashboards, was also emphasized for understanding data and deciphering its insights.

The second parallel session on the ‘Responsible AI Working Group’ saw participation from Ms Sophie Fallaha, Executive Director of CEIMIA; Mr Michael O’Sullivan, GPAI Project co-lead for Pandemic Resilience and Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Auckland; Shri Amir Banifatemi, GPAI Project co-lead for Scaling Responsible AI Solutions and Co-Founder and Director at AI Commons; Mr Juan David Gutiérrez, GPAI Project co-lead for Sandbox and Associate Professor at Universidad de los Andes; Shri Aditya Mohan, GPAI Project co-lead for the sandbox and National Standards Authority of Ireland; Mr Nicolas Miailhe, GPAI co-lead for RAISE – Founder and President of The Future Society; Mr Lee Tiedrich, GPAI Project co-lead for RAISE – Duke University; Shri Raja Chatila, Professor Emeritus of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and IT Ethics, Sorbonne University; Ms Catherine Regis, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Montreal and Mr  Alistair Knott, GPAI Project co-lead for Social Media Governance – University of Victoria.

This session centered on deliberations about scaling responsible AI solutions in 2023 and the challenges associated with building AI solutions responsibly. Discussions encompassed the ‘COMPREHENSIV – At Home Universal Primary Health Care’ project, which focuses on Global Health, and the Sandbox for Responsible AI Public Procurement. The necessity of reliable methods for detecting AI-generated text was a key topic, with one speaker emphasizing, “We need more AI to keep AI safe.” It was also emphasized that companies producing AI generators must demonstrate reliable detection tools for the content they generate. The panel concluded that creating systematic gender inclusions in the AI ecosystem, establishing repositories of public algorithms, developing a digital ecosystem that empowers communities, and recognizing social media platforms as key vehicles for AI influence on people are essential steps.

The third session of the morning, ‘AI and Global Health: Role of AI In Advancing Healthcare,‘ featured Dr Ricardo Baptista Leite, CEO of Health AI and Dr VK Paul, Member of NITI Aayog, as keynote speakers. Panellists included Mr Sameer Kanwar, Director of Digital Health for India & South Asia at PATH; Mr Girish Raghavan, VP of Engineering at GE Healthcare; Dr Geetha Manjunath, Founder of Niramai, and Mr Kiran Anandampillai, CEO and Founder of i-Drishti.

This session, moderated by Dr  Kartik Adapa, Regional Advisor for Digital Health at WHO, South East Asia Regional Office, deliberated on the role of AI in advancing healthcare. Dr. Geeta discussed the development of affordable, portable and radiation-free breast cancer detection methodologies, sharing that a similar initiative was implemented in Punjab, resulting in the treatment of 22 cancer patients. Dr Kiran addressed the problem of identifying eye weakness due to diabetes, emphasizing that AI tools can provide more accurate retinal images for diagnosis. The impactful initiatives like esanjeevani & Ayusham Digital Bharat Mission on public health were also discussed. The panel also touched upon the policy regarding healthcare, emphasizing that it should be centered on lower and middle-income grade countries to bridge the gaps between developed and developing countries.

The Research Symposium, facilitated by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), under the theme “Advancing Responsible AI in Public-Sector Applications,” was also organized. This symposium served as a platform for fostering international collaboration and knowledge exchange. From an overwhelming pool of submissions spanning more than 36 countries, the final selection of 15 exceptional authors delivered insightful presentations at the GPAI Summit. The symposium’s culmination will be marked by the release of the ‘Book of Extended Abstracts,’ encapsulating the collective wisdom shared during this intellectually charged event.

The day is packed with four more sessions, the culmination of the research symposium and the inauguration of the GPAI Summit by Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi.