Earlier today, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik announced the ‘Odisha for Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘Artificial Intelligence for Youth’ initiative. Conducted in conjunction with top chipmaker Intel, this initiative will take place in 3 cities across the state, namely Bhubaneswar, Puri, and Cuttack. 

The Indian government has been going big on AI. The Budget for 2023 was heavily focused on AI solutions for uniquely Indian problems, with the government setting up 3 centres of excellence to improve knowledge on AI. Towards this end, many states have been taking up AI initiatives of their own to upskill the population.

These centres of excellence will not only create a robust research environment towards AI, but also ensure a steady stream of AI professionals in the job market. With the tagline ‘Make AI in India and Make AI work for India’, the government is heavily incentivising the creation of an AI ecosystem in the country. Towards this end, Mr. Patnaik stated, “[The initiative] will also create an ecosystem fostering research, innovation, and application across sectors.”

As part of this undertaking, Odisha is offering AI courses to 2 sets of people. Firstly, the Odisha for AI initiative is a free 4-hour course conducted by Intel and made available on the Odisha for AI website. 

The program is split into two sections, titled AI Aware and AI Appreciate. The AI Aware program covers basic topics like what AI is and differentiating between AI and non-AI machines. On the other hand, the AI Appreciate course describes the different domains of AI and their impact on various industries, along with a primer on AI ethics and responsible AI.

These courses can be completed in about 4 hours, and are available for all online. It is targeted at demographics ranging from students, stay at home parents, professionals, and even senior citizens. Once users finish the quiz at the end of the course, they will be granted a badge that can be shared on social media. 

AI For Youth, on the other hand, targets children in school. This program  will take place in around 2000 schools enabled by Odisha’s 5T (team work, technology, transparency, transformation, time limit) initiative. This will also be offered in Odisha Adarsha Vidyalayas. According to the CM, this will unlock the limitless potential of our youth and build a future where AI serves as a tool for the empowerment of citizens. 

Meanwhile, it seems that other states are falling behind. Karnataka, often hailed as the technological capital of India, has signed various MoUs and partnerships to bring AI to various fields like pollution control, supply chain optimisations, and digital agriculture, but nothing has come from these partnerships.