New Delhi, Jan 7 Microsoft on Tuesday said it has empowered 2.4 million Indians, including civil servants, college students and people with disabilities, with artificial intelligence (AI) skills.
Last year, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella launched an India-specific initiative to equip two million individuals with AI skills by 2025.
“Our aim is to not only enhance employability but also bridge the digital divide and create a more inclusive future for every Indian," Puneet Chandok, President of Microsoft India and South India, said in a statement.
Those involved in the programme said as the use of AI tools spreads across the workforce, those who don’t learn how to use them risk falling behind.
“Once upon a time, humans discovered fire and were afraid of it. But then we learned to channelise it and put it to good use. Similarly, AI needs to be used wisely for the benefit of humanity, rather than letting us be devoured by it,” said Neha Jain, Special Secretary, IT and Electronics, UP government.
On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Nadella, saying he was glad to know about the tech giant’s ambitious expansion and investment plans in the country.
Nadella thanked the Prime Minister for his leadership, saying the tech company is excited to build on “our commitment to making India AI-first and work together on our continued expansion in the country to ensure every Indian benefits from this AI platform shift”.
Microsoft’s AI tools, such as Copilot, TechSaksham and Seeing AI, have profoundly transformed people’s lives through AI skilling initiatives in the country.
For example, Raghavendra Pratap Singh, 33 who is a review officer in the Uttar Pradesh government and analyses new policies then helps disseminate them to the local officers responsible for carrying them out, has found these AI tools handy.
A few months ago, Singh attended a one-day digital skills course run by Microsoft together with the state IT agency. There, he learned tools like Microsoft Copilot and Copilot for Word, PowerPoint and Excel as well as OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Since then, he has started using AI tools to summarise documents and draft letters.
“A letter that might have taken one hour to draft now takes 40 to 45 minutes,” he said.
“AI makes it a better letter,” he said. In the past, he might sometimes miss a minor point. “Now AI is getting the exact pointers,” he added.
He also uses AI to translate court orders in English to Hindi so he can understand them better and communicate them to other officers.
The digital skills course facilitated by Microsoft and the Uttar Pradesh Development Systems Corporation (UPDESCO), and run by a social enterprise called AISECT, covers AI, digital productivity and cybersecurity – in a single day.
Similarly, Jui Shrikant Bidaye, 21, from Pune dreamt of becoming a professional kabbadi player.
After graduating high school in rural Devgad in Maharashtra, she headed more than 321 kms away to study for bachelors’ in Information Technology at NBN Sinhgad School of Engineering, part of the University of Pune.
The university’s training and placement officer suggested she participate in ‘TechSaksham’, an initiative by Microsoft and SAP that introduces students to AI tools.
She is spending the six-month internship working on creating a secure file storage application, using AI tools to help, and hopes the internship will translate into a permanent job offer when she graduates college in June this year.
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