The Human Capital Working Group Meeting in Guwahati wrapped up its second day with discussions centered on leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance language access, education, and digital inclusion in India. Organized by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the IndiaAI Mission in partnership with the Assam Government and IIT Guwahati, the meeting delved into practical applications of AI technologies.
The event commenced with a detailed session on the framework of the National Language Translation Mission. Mitesh Khapre, representing IIT Madras and AI4Bharat, elucidated the mission’s progression over the last four years. He emphasized the mission’s objective of developing fundamental AI and language tools that mirror India’s diverse linguistic landscape, with a specific focus on the 22 constitutionally recognized Indian languages covering almost the entire population.
A significant part of the meeting concentrated on the development of language technologies in Northeast India. Rohit Sinha from IIT Guwahati underscored the region’s linguistic diversity, noting its possession of nearly 200 languages despite a relatively small population share. The Center for Linguistic Science and Technology at IIT Guwahati is actively aiding government language initiatives by facilitating local data collection, engaging native speakers, and creating tools like machine translation and speech recognition systems to enhance access to education, governance, and digital services, particularly for low-resource languages such as Assamese and Mizo.
The discussions also highlighted the BHASHINI platform, with Jyotismita Devi from the Digital India BHASHINI Division outlining its objective of enhancing digital platform accessibility through voice-based and language-inclusive technologies. BHASHINI enables citizens to engage with government services and digital platforms in their native languages, even if they possess limited literacy or internet proficiency. The day concluded with a session on AI education led by Amit Awekar from IIT Guwahati, who advocated for an innovative approach to teaching AI through reverse engineering methods.
