Over 700 languages are spoken in India, the world’s most populous country. Artificial intelligence is being used to developed chatbots for dozens of those languages. So computer programs and devices will soon communicate in humanlike prose in many of those languages.
The Hindustan Times reports:
Microsoft, Google and start-ups including Silicon Valley-backed Sarvam AI and Krutrim — founded by Bhavish Aggarwal of Indian mobility group Ola — are all working on AI voice assistants and chatbots that function in languages such as Hindi and Tamil. The tools are aimed at fast-growing Indian industries, such as the country’s large customer service and call centre sector.
India has 22 official languages, with Hindi the most widespread, but researchers estimate the languages and dialects spoken by its 1.4 billion people rise into the thousands. Google on Tuesday launched its Gemini AI assistant in nine Indian languages.
Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant is available in 12 Indian languages, and the company is working on other projects tailored for India, including building “tiny” language models at its Bengaluru-based research centre. These smaller alternatives to the expensive large language models underpinning generative AI can run on smartphones rather than the cloud, making them cheaper and potentially better suited to countries such as India where connectivity can be limited.
Microsoft is also partnering with Bengaluru-based Sarvam AI, which is developing generative AI tools for Indian businesses. The start-up raised $41 million from investors including Peak XV, Sequoia’s former India arm, and Menlo Park-based Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Artificial intelligence is advancing in other areas as well. Researchers have also developed robots to pick cotton. That may eliminate the need for cotton farmers to buy mechanical harvesters that cost $1 million and weigh 30 tons, compressing soil and thus sometimes harming soil health.
Robots with artificial intelligence are spreading on Japanese farms. In the U.S., farming robots now use artificial intelligence to kill 100,000 weeds per hour. Drones with artificial intelligence will make farming easier. A robot is saving Dutch tulip fields by quickly detecting diseased tulips before the disease can spread.
Artificial intelligence is detecting cases of prostate cancer and breast cancer that radiologists overlook.
Robots are also being use for food preparation, such as the salad-making robot used by the Sweetgreen restaurant chain. Robot waiters are increasingly being used in South Korean restaurants, which are facing a labor shortage.
