Digital Futures Lab's proposal selected for IndiaAI Mission on Safe & Trusted AI

Inclusive AI, built for public service. 🎧🌍 The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) published an article about how we use voice tech to bring vital knowledge to women in India’s last mile: 👉 https://lnkd.in/eWwk9mXm In our work, “inclusive AI” means using AI language tools to translate and speak content in local languages, then delivering it in ways that work without literacy or constant connectivity - QR posters, WhatsApp sharing, basic devices and community loudspeakers. Content is co-created with public and civil-society partners, based on open resources, and deployed via audiopedia.org so frontline organisations can share and track uptake in real programmes. Grateful to BMZ, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, FAIR Forward, BHASHINI - (Digital India BHASHINI Division) (MeitY) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) for making this possible. #InclusiveAI #DigitalInclusion #VoiceTech #AIforGood #LastMile

#Opinion | Humans in the Loop by Aranya Sahay follows an Adivasi woman working in AI data labelling, highlighting invisible labour, gender gaps, and systemic issues in technology, writes Ranjita Ganesan. https://mybs.in/2eq9AN2

The Centre of Policy Research and Governance (CPRG) held a seminar titled “AI for Inclusion in India” at the India International Centre in New Delhi, ahead of the India-AI Impact Summit 2026. The event gathered experts from government, academia, and civil society to discuss how artificial intelligence can promote equity, accessibility, and empowerment in India's digital future. Key speakers emphasized the importance of inclusive AI design. Rajit Punhani, CEO of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, highlighted the need for AI to reach rural classrooms to close the digital divide. Dr. Rashmi Das advocated for public-private partnerships to tailor AI for diverse learners, while Noopur Jhunjhunwala noted that AI tools initially developed as assistive technologies often benefit wider populations. Prof Bipin Jojo stressed culturally responsive AI approaches for tribal communities to protect indigenous knowledge. CPRG Director Dr. Ramanand underscored that innovation alone is insufficient and AI development must prioritize inclusion and governance. The seminar was part of CPRG’s Future of Society initiative, examining the impact of emerging technologies on daily life and policy. #AI #India https://lnkd.in/gSzQFPYF

Anthropic’s CEO and co-founder, Dario Amodei, met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to discuss India's role in the future of responsible AI development. The company intends to hire local talent and collaborate with Indian businesses, nonprofits, and startups to apply AI technologies in sectors such as education, agriculture, and healthcare. The conversation emphasized aligning AI development with democratic values while serving diverse industries and populations. Following the meeting, Amodei highlighted Prime Minister Modi’s vision of balancing AI innovation with responsibility to benefit all Indians. Anthropic announced plans to open an office in Bengaluru in early 2026, where it will build a local team to develop AI solutions tailored for India's unique needs. Bengaluru was selected for its talent pool and proximity to the enterprise ecosystem. This will be Anthropic’s second office in the Indo-Pacific region, following its Tokyo location, with further regional expansion expected later in 2025. India ranks second globally in the usage of Anthropic’s AI platform Claude, with particularly high usage in technical and software development tasks. Anthropic is investing in improving Claude’s performance in Indic languages, including Hindi and nearly a dozen others such as Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, and Urdu, to support broader AI adoption. The company plans to use Claude’s analytical capabilities to support public health initiatives and pilot AI-powered education tools that could impact millions of students. Additional partnerships with accelerators and social entrepreneurs focused on locally relevant AI applications will be announced in the near future. #AI #India https://lnkd.in/gumf_KuQ

Interesting article, there's a lot to unpack here. According to a recent study done by a group at UC Berkeley, published in the journal Nature, AI often portrays women as younger than their male counterparts across various online platforms, particularly in high-status occupations. What does this mean exactly? It's troubling and potentially detrimental to women and young girls. This perception shapes how society views their roles, experiences, and expertise. Media bias is real, and how young girls perceive themselves is influenced by these biases. If women are perceived as younger and less experienced, it impacts their professional opportunities and growth, reinforcing harmful stereotypes. Let’s be honest these biases can have real-world consequences. How do young girls see themselves when the media constantly sends skewed messages? And when women in high-status roles are perceived as less experienced, their credibility and authority might be unfairly questioned, creating yet another hurdle in their professional journeys. Understanding and addressing the biases that AI may perpetuate is crucial. How do you think we can better tackle these challenges to ensure young girls and women are accurately represented and valued? #AI #GenderBias #MediaBias #EmpowerGirls #WomenInLeadership https://lnkd.in/gpdmmEfA

What do you think about racially biased AI platforms? This was a point of discussion our CEO Upenyu Machingambi raised at the Zambia TechXpo 2025, which was centered on AI & Payments. The core issue is this: many AI models are trained on datasets that lack adequate representation from African contexts, leading to skewed outcomes, inaccuracies, and perpetuating existing inequalities across the continent. This bias can be in various ways, such as language translation deficiency, stereotyping, inaccurate clinical models, gender bias and more. The most effective way to combat AI bias in Africa is to proactively build and train AI models that are more accurate to our diverse African languages, culture, agricultural practices, and socio-economic contexts. At Mator Design we use AI to build a more inclusive and equitable digital future for Africa. For training on Enterprise AI, contact us at: upenyu@matordesign.com +263777445768 #AfricaTech #TechXpo2025 #AIBias #Inclusion #AI #machinelearning #largelanguagemodels #coding #datasets #datascience #lusaka

BHASHINI’s initiative to “create digital data” for languages, especially low-resource languages, has set a benchmark for how the digitization of languages can happen. The data has been open-sourced to enable the industry to thrive and to encourage the creation of more such initiatives through partnerships. The models developed from this data have also been open-sourced and are available in the Data Vatika section of the BHASHINI portal #DataVatika as well as on #AIKosh. BHASHINI involved 70 institutes across the length and breadth of the country to build these models. This effort contributed to the democratization of AI skills across India. The models are open-sourced and accessible in the Model Vatika section of the BHASHINI portal #ModelVatika and on #AIKosh. Under continued guidance, BHASHINI collaborates with the Government (both Central and State), industries, start-ups, academic institutions, and research organizations to build a comprehensive corpus for the digitalization of Indian languages, ensuring inclusivity and accessibility for all. #BHASHINI #DigitalIndia #AIforLanguages #InclusiveAI #OpenSourceAI #Innovation #Collaboration Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Narendra Modi Ashwini Vaishnaw Jitin Prasada S Krishnan Abhishek Singh Amitabh Nag Kavita Bhatia Digital India Programme Shailendra Pal Singh Ajay Singh Rajawat Deepika Pathak Tarun Pandey Krishna Kishore Asha Singh Vijay Kumar Dr. Swaran Lata Ministry Of Home Affairs (mha), GOI, Dr. Sumeet Jerath, IAS Suhel Bidani Prof. (Dr.) Charru Malhotra Manu Chopra The/Nudge Institute AIM The Times Of India ilouge Media ETGovernment Infovys Samagra AI Saara AI

The push to develop and flesh out native language models and to accelerate the digitalisation of long-tail (or low-resource) languages has turned into momentum. In the initiative described here, both the data and the models have been open-sourced. Onward!

What does #AI mean for India across sectors? Vigyan Dhara convenes the voices from stakeholders shaping the answer. (4/4) As AI accelerates India’s digital transformation, it is also reshaping education, governance, and even how citizens engage with financial services. Here's what’s happening in AI for India across: FINANCIAL SERVICES – Mr. Deepak Sharma shares: Banking institutions have integrated AI-powered analytics into credit and investment products. Fintech innovators are democratising financial inclusion by leveraging AI-based alternative data underwriting to extend credit access to underserved customers in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. E-GOVERNANCE – Ms. Kavita Bhatia from IndiaAI shares: The government has focused on leveraging AI to enhance the reach and effectiveness of its DPI platforms like Aadhaar, UPI, and DigiLocker. The Supreme Court of India recently announced the launch of SUVAS, which facilitates the instant translation of judgments, court orders, and legal documents from English to nine Indian languages and vice versa. INCLUSIVE AND ETHICAL EDUCATION – Mr. Tim Curtis from UNESCO India shares: Its engagement seeks to ensure that India’s education system treats AI not just as a tool, but as a subject of ethical reflection, fostering informed and empowered citizens. UNESCO has developed the Readiness Assessment Methodology for a country’s AI ecosystem, helping governments identify gaps in policy, regulation, and institutions. To better understand how India is integrating AI in these sectors and more, read the article " AI Across Sectors: Mapping the Impact of Artificial Intelligence in India", curated by Ms. Ayushee Chaudhary, Communications Specialist, OPSA, in our September edition of #VigyanDhara on: https://lnkd.in/gjTH78Xw Dr (Mrs.) Parvinder Maini | Dr. Preeti Banzal | B. Chagun Basha | Shakun Shan | Suryanjay Singh | Varas Duggu

While AI has far-reaching implications across sectors, voices at Bigyan Dhara emphasize its critical role in disaster management, a key aspect of India's resilient future in increasingly risk-prone times. India's AI strategy for disaster resilience is multifaceted, leveraging technology to predict, prepare for, and respond to disasters, demonstrating the nation's commitment to mitigating risks and building a resilient future.