In modern history, every technological revolution has coincided with the rise of a powerful nation state, whether it be Great Britain with its first Industrial Revolution in the 18th century or America with its Second Industrial Revolution in the early 20th century. Recently, China has leveraged the power of technology, cheap labor, and sound government policy to become one of the world’s largest economies with global influence after the United States. With the advent of Artificial Intelligence, we are at another inflection point in human evolution where if done right, India can be a beneficiary and become one of the global superpowers. For this to happen, we have all the right things in place – a large number of skilled and experienced IT personnel, government and regulatory policies that are fostering and encouraging new ideas, and a growing middle class. According to Rajiv Chandrashekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, India will be an important pole in the world of AI going forward.
According to an estimate released by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of the Central Government, AI is expected to add US$967 billion to the Indian economy by 2035 and will account for 10% of the projected GDP target by 2025. While the US and China are at the forefront, India is also not far behind in the race when it comes to investments in AI. According to Stanford University’s 2023 AI Index Report, India ranks 5th in terms of investment capital received by startups offering AI-based products and services.
The addition of larger language models and software, advances in the semiconductor industry, and especially memory and storage technology will fuel the AI revolution, as all AI systems require large amounts of data to process at high speed. According to an estimate released by Fortune Business Insights, the combined memory and storage market will triple in 2021 from the estimated 2030 data. A significant portion of this growth will be driven by demand for high bandwidth memory (HBM). HBM is an ideal choice for high performance computation and AI because it has high latency, small footprint, very low power consumption, and is able to sustain higher and higher core counts than a typical DRAM memory. HBM accomplishes all this by vertically stacking multiple DRAM dies using through-silicon vias (TSVs). Complimenting HBM memory speeds, the high-speed storage solution will enable instant access to training datasets, while the data lake provides a high-performance repository for data. Thanks to the efforts of the Indian government, we are already becoming a significant part of the advanced semiconductor manufacturing base, as shown by recent announcements from companies like Micron and Tata Electronics, with a few more ventures under discussion.
The use of AI to further optimize manufacturing flows in today’s advanced semiconductor fabs, which can involve more than a thousand steps for each silicon wafer, is the next organic step. AI-enabled smart manufacturing technology can deliver high-quality products at a faster pace. For example, one takes images during the entire three to four month chip manufacturing cycle and uses them to find and correct deviations before they can have a detrimental impact on chip yield and productivity. Similar strategies are used for assembly and test operations. All these steps are dependent on AI systems and processing them in a very fast time would be beyond the scope of humans. This was an extension of big data analytics, and now the next step is the use of generative AI that can provide concrete and proactive action before these deviations occur. Generative AI will also be important in improving cycle time and quality issues for architectural and circuit design during the VLSI chip design and developmental phase. Generative AI is clearly bringing new paradigms to the memory industry with many innovative solutions and approaches to ensure optimal and efficient data transfer and data computation. Outside the semiconductor world, generative AI applications that are built on neural networks with data from billions of parameters or more have the potential to create virtual assistants and customized experiences for users and automate routine tasks.
While there is a lot of excitement around the use of AI, and rightfully so, there are also some areas of concern in terms of what it means for future employment opportunities and the ethics of AI use, including data privacy. According to a study by the Government of India, the socio-economic outcomes of AI will depend on how well it is managed. The central government has already introduced several platforms to make citizens aware about AI, including its flagship program ‘AI for All’. Additionally, Skill India Mission and National Education Policy initiatives are being launched to upgrade and re-skill the workforce so that they are ready to take advantage of AI. Regarding data privacy, we have all already seen news articles about how deepfakes are used to steal identities and extortion and this is just the beginning. Here too the authorities should be very cautious that citizens are not affected and they get proper support to protect their identity and data.
It was Steve Jobs who said in 1980 that computers are “bicycles for the brain.” Take that analogy further, and artificial intelligence will do for your productivity what adding a powerful motor will do for the speed of that bicycle. The AI revolution is coming, whether we like it or not. India cannot afford to miss this bus and must leverage its strong strengths through a top-down, problem-oriented, multidisciplinary approach with the participation of academia, industry and startups. AI is going to have a profound impact on every sector, be it space, education, healthcare, sustainable living or Industry 4.0. Social opinion is going to be shaped by AI, which we cannot afford to leave to foreign players. India already faces major security risks due to our complete dependence on imports of semiconductor chips. If we don’t wake up in time, the same is going to happen with AI. Opportunity is knocking for the world and especially India, and it is now up to us to make the most of it.
(Anand Ramamurthy is Managing Director of Micron India and Professor V Ramgopal Rao is Group Vice Chancellor of BITS Pilani. Views expressed are personal.)
