This will enable AI innovation, share ideas and recommend mechanisms for catalyzing partnership

The newly launched US India Artificial Intelligence (USIAI) will serve as a platform to discuss opportunities, challenges, and barriers for bilateral AI Research & Development collaboration, officials and scientists from the two countries have said.

"This is a great chance for two countries to synergize research and explore various possibilities,” said Professor Sandeep Verma, Secretary Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB).

Speaking at an online panel discussion to mark the launch of USIAI recently, he said that this will enable AI innovation, share ideas for developing an AI workforce and recommend modes and mechanisms for catalyzing partnerships.

According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology on Sunday, Elizabeth Urbanas, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia and the Americas, U.S. Department of Energy, said that AI can strengthen bilateral energy partnerships between the United States and India.

“We have several areas that we envision working with the IUSSTF program on. We are also looking forward to leveraging this platform and its engagement to help bolster our existing bilateral energy partnerships in India, where we share priorities to modernize and strengthen the grid, enhance grid integration of renewables for reliable energy supply, promote smart and innovative efficient buildings and material and decarbonize and electrify the industrial sector,” she said.

The Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) was established in 2000 under an agreement between the Governments of India and the United States.

The press release explained that it operates through two bilateral agreements: Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (2000) and United States-India Science and Technology Endowment Fund (2009).

Eminent scientists from different countries working in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) from across the world deliberated on the possibilities, challenges, and scope of AI technologies bringing about breakthrough solutions in a range of sectors like agriculture, energy, climate change, affordable housing, and smart cities at the panel discussion.

Padmanabhan Anandan, CEO, Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence, said that AI can help solve problems in many sectors. “It may not solve all the problems but can certainly help us find problem areas and control problems,” he said, according to the release.

“The possibility through this collaboration in various sectors like healthcare, agriculture, climate control, smart cities, etc., and improving social-economic level by bringing together stakeholder and solve problems is enormous,” said Aseem Ansari, Chair Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis.

Jim Kurose, Distinguished University Professor, College of Information and Computer Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst hoped that long-term collaboration between the two countries would be able to tackle the challenges of the future.

The scientists also discussed future security and privacy concerns surrounding AI and also how AI tools and technologies could transform several sectors of the economy - from deep learning algorithms for cancer diagnosis, application of machine learning to discover new materials, the use of 3D printers in advanced manufacturing, to intelligent systems with cognition and decision-making abilities.

The scientists highlighted how the USIAI could bring together experts from around the world for more such discussions.