Centre for Internet & Society

This Report provides an overview of the proceedings of the Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Manufacturing and Services: Looking Forward (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Roundtable’), conducted at The Energy Resource Institute (TERI), in Bangalore on January 19, 2018.

 

Event Report: Download (PDF)


The Roundtable comprised of participants from different sides of the AI and manufacturing and services spectrum including practitioners, representatives from multinational companies, think tanks, academicians, and researchers. The Roundtable discussed various questions regarding AI in the manufacturing and services industry in India.

The round of discussions began with initial observations from the in progress research that the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is undertaking, on the use of AI in manufacturing and services. Some of the uses of AI that the research had thus far identified across various sectors included AI platforms in IT services for accurate forecasting for businesses, AI driven automation of routine tasks in manufacturing and production, and AI driven analytics for forecasting in the agriculture sector. The discussion then proceeded to the benefits of using AI - including efficient and effective results, precision, and automation of repetitive maintenance tasks. The draft research also acknowledges that although the use of AI is beneficial in many ways, there are also some key concerns around job displacement, privacy, lack of awareness, and a needed capacity to fully understand and use new AI technologies. The draft research also identified a few key AI initiatives in India, such as Wipro Holmes, TCS Ignio, and G.E, that were providing solutions to help automating software maintenance tasks and helping in the smooth working of SAP (Systems, Applications & Products) operations. Innovative uses of AI in areas such as crop production (M.I.T.R.A.) and dairy optimization (StellApps) were also identified.

To understand the present state of AI and impact of the same, the session was opened to discussion on the following questions: See the full report here.

 

The views and opinions expressed on this page are those of their individual authors. Unless the opposite is explicitly stated, or unless the opposite may be reasonably inferred, CIS does not subscribe to these views and opinions which belong to their individual authors. CIS does not accept any responsibility, legal or otherwise, for the views and opinions of these individual authors. For an official statement from CIS on a particular issue, please contact us directly.