Artificial Intelligence and Robotics 2017
Artificial Intelligence and Robotics 2017
in
Artificial Intelligence
and Robotics – 2017
Leveraging artificial
intelligence and robotics
for sustainable growth
March 2017
Message from PwC
The global scientific community has come a long way since the development of artificial intelligence (AI)
as a concept to its modern-day appeal as a field with near-limitless potential in turning around the way
activities are performed in a functioning society. The ultimate frontier for AI systems continues to be
achieving a level of sophistication that matches that of the human mind.
Researchers and commercial entities are harnessing ways in which AI solutions can make use of the
massive data footprint being generated in the process of daily activities through smart technologies such
as personal digital assistants, location trackers, sensors, imaging devices and social media feeds.
Sudipta Ghosh India has seen a subtle percolation of AI and machine learning into the daily lives of citizens to the
Partner and Leader, extent that the conveniences resulting from their use have become part of our daily reality—for
Data and Analytics, example, customised interactions through a handheld device OS based on user behaviour, app-based cab
PwC aggregators, social media recommendations—and no longer seem out of the ordinary. While end users
may not be aware that they are using a form of AI, organisations catering to them are identifying different
uses of AI to ease delivery of service to end users.
There is a lot of optimism around some of the landmark initiatives in motion, such as Make in India, Skill
India, Digital India. At this juncture, it is imperative to gain an insight into the possible implications of AI
systems across different application domains.
This is also the best time to moderate the same within the purview of a robust policy framework that
serves the dual objectives of technological advancement on the one hand and ethical compliance and
social inclusion on the other.
In an ever-evolving and learning AI environment, creating a landscape for institutionalising AI innovation
is the need of the hour. This requires close collaboration between academia, the private sector and public
sector in order to understand problems holistically and solve them.
Indranil Mitra, PhD
Director, India is already on the path of a digital revolution and the next step is utilising the big data generated
Data and Analytics, to take intelligent decisions. Since the effectiveness of AI, machine learning, robotics and cognitive
PwC automation increases in direct proportion to a rise in the quality and quantity of training data that the
systems are exposed to, the conditions are ripe for India to emerge as a leader in AI.
Through this knowledge paper, we have tried to examine the areas across private and public industries
where the AI continuum (augmented, assisted and autonomous intelligence) could be applicable, as well
as a robust AI policy framework that needs to touch upon the social, economic and ethical considerations
of a well-governed society. These efforts will foster a balanced environment in India for innovation and
leadership in AI.
Message from ASSOCHAM
Since the invention of computers or machines, their capability to perform various tasks has grown
exponentially. Humans have developed computer systems by improving their power in terms of diverse
working domains, increasing their speed and reducing their size over time.
AI-based applications today have already touched people’s lives in many ways. From the intelligent
keyboards on smartphones to the voice-activated assistants in tablets and desktops and the devices in a
person’s immediate personal space—technology has become far more intelligent than it used to be or is
perceived to be. Be it financial services, healthcare, education or even security and governance, AI can be
D. S. Rawat exploited for the benefit of citizens and the country. AI-based automation is capable of impacting almost
Secretary General, every sector of the economy.
ASSOCHAM ASSOCHAM believes that national initiatives like Make in India, Skill India and Digital India will immensely
benefit from AI technology and suggests that the government should take both long-term and short-term
policy initiatives to promote AI in the country.
To understand the impact of AI on various sectors and the various policy initiatives required,
ASSOCHAM has organised this conference on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics – 2017.
ASSOCHAM is committed to creating more awareness about the subject and this background paper, jointly
prepared by PwC and ASSOCHAM, is a step in that direction. We congratulate the team on their efforts and
convey our very best wishes for the success of the conference.
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Table of contents
1. Artificial intelligence (AI)....................................................7
1.1. What is AI?................................................................................. 7
1.2. A brief history of AI.................................................................... 9
2. AI in India..........................................................................11
2.1. AI initiatives underway in India............................................... 11
2.1.1. Private sector......................................................................... 11
2.1.2. Government and public sector............................................... 11
2.2. Challenges and implications.................................................... 12
2.3. AI in governance....................................................................... 13
3. Global policy initiatives.....................................................15
3.1. Policy initiatives undertaken globally...................................... 15
3.2. Key areas for policy planning................................................... 15
4. Impact of initiatives around AI adoption...........................21
4.1. Potential impact of AI on industries and organisations............ 21
4.2. Socio-economic implications................................................... 25
4.2.1. Tackling concerns related to loss of jobs................................. 27
4.3. Economic returns from AI usage.............................................. 28
4.3.1. Commercial hurdles for private firms and investors............... 28
4.4. Ethical considerations.............................................................. 29
5. Looking ahead...................................................................31
6. Bibliography......................................................................33
Artificial
intelligence
system
Augmented intelligence
Enhancing human ability to do the same
tasks faster or better. Humans still make
some of the key decisions, but AI executes
the tasks on their behalf. The decision rights
are solely with humans.
The AI
continuum Autonomous intelligence
Adaptive/continuous systems that take over decision making
in some cases. But they will do so only after the human
decision maker starts trusting the machine or becomes a
liability for fast transactions.
In this type of intelligence, the decision rights are with
the machine and hence it is fundamentally different from
assisted intelligence.
Highly complex
use cases
Autonomous intelligence
Adaptive/continuous systems
take over decision making
and execution.
Complexity of use
Augmented intelligence
AI augments human ability to Assisted intelligence
perform tasks faster or with
Humans and machines learn
more precision. Decisions are
from each other and share
solely made by humans.
decision rights.
Less complex
use cases
Decision-making right
Humans make AI makes
decisions decisions
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1.2 A brief history of AI
Having originated as a concept as
early as the 1950s, AI research and
application has come a long way during
the 1980s–2000s and up to the current
day. An indicative timeline, along with
dominant research areas in the AI space
during each period, is as follows:
Evolution of AI
AI is currently on the crest of its third wave and given the immense interest
in this field, it can be expected to continue at this state for a long time.
Homegrown infrastructure
Indian academics, researchers and
entrepreneurs face a more acute
challenge than corporates do in terms
of the less than ideal infrastructure
available for an AI revolution in India.
For example, cloud computing
infrastructure, which is capable of
storing large amounts of data and
facilitating the huge amount of
computing power essential for AI
applications, is largely located on
servers abroad.
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2.3 AI in governance
Deep learning, a part of AI, can be Further, AI can be applied to the Prime and a large workforce skilled in areas
employed to tackle issues of scale Minister’s initiatives such as the Digital growing beyond the need for manual
often prevalent in the execution of India Initiative, Skill India and Make in intervention only.
government schemes. It is essentially India with varying effects. The range
AI can also be consumed in traditional
a process that can be used for pattern of application for AI techniques in such
industries like agriculture. The
recognition, image analysis and large-scale public endeavours could
Department of Agriculture Cooperation
natural language processing (NLP) by range from crop insurance schemes,
and Farmers Welfare, Ministry of
modelling high-level abstractions in tax fraud detection, and detecting
Agriculture runs the Kisan Call Centers
data which can then be compared with subsidy leakage and defence and
across the country to respond to issues
various other recognised contents in security strategy.
raised by farmers instantly and in
a conceptual way rather than using
The Make in India and Skill India their local language. An AI system will
just a rule-based method. Take for
initiatives can be heavily augmented help assist the call centre by linking
instance the Clean India Initiative
as well as disrupted by AI adoption various available information. For
directed towards the construction of
in the short term. While the former example, it could pick up soil reports
toilets in rural India. Public servants
is aimed at building the nation-wide from government agencies and link
are tasked with uploading images of
capabilities required to make India them to the environmental conditions
these toilet constructions to a central
a self-sustaining hub of innovation, prevalent over the years using data from
server for sampling and assessment.
design, production and export, a remote sensing satellite. It could then
Image processing AI can be used to
the latter seeks to aggressively build provide advice on the omtimal crop
flag photographs that do not resemble
and enhance human capital. that can be sown in that land pocket.
completely built toilets.
This information could also be used to
However, the point to consider here
Image recognition capabilities can also determine the crop’s susceptibility to
is that if investments are made in the
be used to identify whether the same pests. Necessary pre-emptive measures
two initiatives without due cognisance
official appears in multiple images or if can then be taken—for instance,
of how Industry 4.0 (the next
photos have been uploaded by officials supplying the required pesticides to that
industrial revolution driven by robotic
from a location other than the intended land pocket as well as notifying farmers
automation) may evolve with respect
site. Considering the scale of this about the risk. With a high level of
to demand for workforce size and skill
initiative, which involves creating more connectivity, this is a feasible and ready
sets, there is a possibility of ending up
functional toilets, being able to check to deploy solution which uses AI as an
with capital-intensive infrastructures
every image rather than a small sample augmentation to the system.
and assets that fall short of being
will actually help increase effectiveness.
optimised for automated operations
United States
In the National AI R&D Strategic Plan, More specifically, the plan calls for AI will find application in a broader
the United States government has laid greater focus on broad ‘general AI’ in range of cognitive domains, including
stress on channelling investments to place of ‘narrow AI’ that traditionally learning, language, perception,
drive discovery and insight in the field of aims at specific tasks: for example, reasoning, creativity and planning.
AI and ML. moving from speech recognition to video
recognition and translation. General
South Korea
The government of South Korea
(Ministry of Science, ICT and Future
Planning) has been investing in
South Korea has announced $840 Million
ExoBrain from 2013. ExoBrain is a Public-Private Partnership spanning six
language analysis and self-learning corporations to drive AI research.
system with the capacity to store large
volumes of data for learning and Source: ‘India and the artificial intelligence
subsequent analysis. The investment revolution’, S. S. Vempati, Carnegie India
of around 83 million EUR will last for
10 years.
China
Internet giants in China are increasingly A study by Japan’s National Institute of
focusing on AI research, with domestic Science and Technology Policy found China
venture capital funding being directed to be a close second to the U.S. in terms of
towards this field. Many private players the number of AI studies presented at top
are fast rising in AI research capabilities,
some of whom have their own AI academic conferences.
research labs. Source: ‘In 2017, China is doubling down
on AI’, Jamie Condliffe, MIT Technology
ReviewS. S. Vempati, Carnegie India
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Driving human–AI collaborative applications
The goal of setting up AI systems Broadly, human–AI partnerships can • AI performs in place of humans—
that operate with varying degrees assume any of the following forms: ideally, in environments that are
of autonomy is to ensure that they potentially harmful to humans or
• AI performs alongside humans in
majorly augment and enhance human require a superhuman reaction time
a supportive mode, facilitating
productivity rather than replace it (e.g. toxic environments and rapid
human judgment by providing
altogether. According to PwC’s Big system response in nuclear reactors).
resources such as predictive outputs.
Decisions Survey,1 organisations are
increasingly seeking to improve the • AI performs activities that go
speed of decision making and the level beyond the cognitive abilities of
of sophistication by factoring in a larger humans—in applications where it is
set of parameters with greater precision physically or cognitively impossible
and exactness in decision outcomes than for a human to perform precise
human intuition can support. analysis (e.g. large-scale genome
For many operational and strategic study in bioinformatics).
decisions, the aid of AI systems in
processing massive volumes of data
and drawing upon sophisticated
conclusions can bring organisations
closer to the levels of decision-making
responsiveness needed to survive in
uncertain economic environments.
The extent to which AI can assist
and augment human productivity
depends on the role division between
humans and AI and the nature of their
interactions.
1. PwC. (2016). PwC’s Global Data and Analytics Survey 2016. Retrieved from http://www.pwc.com/us/en/advisory-services/data-
possibilities/big-decision-survey.html (last accessed on 1 March 2017)
‘Adversarial machine learning’ is key area the NITRD cybersecurity R&D strategic plan,
that evaluates the extent to which AI systems can be contaminated by training data,
modified algorithms, etc.
Source: ‘The National AI R&D Strategic Plan (Oct 2016)’, National Science and Technology
Council, USA
The IMPACT (Information Marketplace for Policy and Analysis of Cyber-risk & Trust)
program (US) supports cyber-security risk research through real world data sharing
capabilities in the international R&D community.
Source: ‘The National AI R&D Strategic Plan (Oct 2016)’, National Science and Technology
Council, USANational Science and Technology Council, USA
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Defining evaluation standards for tracking progress
The national policy must clearly define
standards and benchmarks that can be
effectively used to gauge progress in AI
innovation and commercialisation in a
host of application domains. By nature,
the AI space is an uncertain one with
no direct traceability of returns from
investment in innovation and capability
building. This makes it all the more
important for intermediate tangible
progress to be measured against set
targets from time to time.
An example of an AI standard
developed is P1872-2015
(Standard Ontologies for Robotics
and Automation) developed
by Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for
a systematic and standardized
representation of knowledge for
transfer between humans and AI.
Source: ‘The National AI R&D
Strategic Plan (Oct 2016)’ - National
Science and Technology Council,
USAScience and Technology
Council, USA
Product manufacturing
AI augmented manufacturing The above-mentioned improvements
operations can employ more reliable can lead to increased productivity and
demand forecasting, a flexible and quality, lower costs and a more robust
responsive supply chain, quicker health and safety framework.
changes in operations, and more
accurate scheduling and inventory
optimisation. Other benefits involve
creation of smarter, quicker and
environmentally sound processes.
Logistics
A key area of AI intervention in can be transported more efficiently
logistical operations involves adaptive through vision-based driver assist and
scheduling of deliveries and routing automated/robotic systems. This has
of vehicles. Advanced logistics and made transportation less susceptible to
supply chains are being created using disruptions caused by weather, traffic
expert decision systems. Products and unnatural events.
Financial services
Some of the major areas of application intent in financial systems, such as
of AI in the banking and financial market manipulation, fraud, anomalous
services sector include early detection trading and reduction in market
of financial risk and systemic failures, volatility and trading costs.
and automation to reduce malicious
Agriculture
Agriculture is another sector that can provide site-specific and timely data
greatly benefit from intelligent solutions about crops to enable application of
by using smarter production, processing, appropriate inputs such as fertilisers
storage, distribution and consumption and chemicals.
mechanisms. AI solutions can also help
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Consumer goods and services
Consumer goods and services was one of
the initial areas of AI adoption in India
and currently accounts for a significant
share of private sector application.
To enable consumers to find better
products at low prices, machine learning
algorithms are being deployed for better
matching of supply with consumer
demand.
Online shopping portals have extensively been using predictive capabilities to gauge
consumer interest in products by building a targeted understanding of preferences
through collection of browsing and click-stream data, and effectively targeting and
engaging customers using a multichannel approach.
Researchers and paralegals are increasingly being replaced by systems that can extract
facts and conclusions from over a billion text documents a second. This has the potential
to save lawyers around 30% of their time.
Source: PwC analysis
Audit services
Cognitive technologies are being reads and understands key points in
deployed by firms to largely automate the documents. Machine-learning
the task of going through stacks of technology makes it possible to train the
documents to identify key terms, which system on a set of sample documents so
has until now been a time-consuming that it learns how to identify and extract
manual process. NLP technology information in an automated manner.
2. Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Subcommittee. (2016). The National Artificial Intelligence
Research and Development Strategic Plan. National Science and Technology Council, USA
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4.2. Socio-economic implications
Projected shrink in the middle-skill job market,
resulting in the upskilling of the workforce
AI-driven automation raises the most
commonly foreseen pitfall in society—
the potential mass obsolescence of
manual labour in the middle-skill order,
such as factory workers and technicians.
This also brings in the opportunity of
upskilling the population so that other
prevalent problems can be solved.
China is expected to have installed more industrial robots than any other country—
30 robots per 10,000 workers. A few thousand workers have already been replaced
by a robotic workforce in a single factory.
Source: ‘India and the artificial intelligence revolution’, S. S. Vempati, Carnegie India
Make in India, one of the Prime The key point here is that with robotic and adjusting machine algorithms to
Minister’s flagship programmes, automation, the Make in India initiative enable AI systems to operate in a reliable
focuses on the twin goals of may not end up creating nearly as and transparent manner.
strengthening India’s in-house many jobs as it is poised to at this
It has also been argued that automation
innovation and production capabilities point in time.
of repetitive jobs will create more time
with added creation of jobs for the
On a positive note, a scenario wherein and opportunities for citizens to pursue
middle-skilled strata of the workforce.
low-skilled, repeatable labour can be creative endeavours such as the arts,
The former goal of the programme is
assigned to robotic systems provides an scientific innovation and personal goals,
likely to be facilitated by large-scale AI
incentive for part of the workforce to leading to a society diverse in skills
adoption, with difficulties to be faced in
be trained in higher level skills such as and achievements.
meeting its latter goal.
designing, monitoring and oversight,
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4.2.1. Tackling concerns related to loss of jobs
In light of technology advances, certain shift. According to Oxford University mathematical technicians, insurance
sectors are expected to experience a researchers Carl Frey and Michael underwriters, watch repairers, cargo
shrinkage of employment demand as Osborne,3 based on 702 occupational agents, tax preparers, etc.
robotic systems and ML algorithms take groupings, the following types of
Some short- and long-term policy
up several tasks. It can be expected that workers have a very high probability
initiatives to cushion the impact of
IT, manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, of being replaced by automation:
job losses stemming from AI-driven
etc., will experience such a demand telemarketers, hand sewers,
automation are discussed below.
3. Frey, C. B. & Osborne, M. A. (2013). The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation? Retrieved from
http://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/academic/The_Future_of_Employment.pdf (last accessed on 28 Febraury2017)
4. Chen, N., Christensen, L., Gallagher, K., Mate, R., & Rafert, G. (2016). Global economic impacts associated with artificial
intelligence. Boston: Analysis Group Study.
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4.4. Ethical considerations
One of the major concerns in any based on demographics to arrive at the
conversation involving AI is the topic probability to commit crimes or default
of ethical, legal and societal norms. on financial obligations. AI system
AI research needs to base itself on a actions should therefore be transparent
sound understanding of the various and easily understandable by humans.
implications of any innovation and Deep learning algorithms that are
ensure alignment with rules and norms. opaque to users could create hurdles
Common concerns are the breach in domains such as healthcare, where
of privacy that might arise from an diagnosis and treatment need to be
environment where hackers can exploit backed by a solid chain of reasoning
AI solutions to collect private and to buy into patient trust. Trustworthy
sensitive information. AI systems are built around the
following tenets:
A bigger threat is the misuse of ML
algorithms by hackers to develop • Transparency
autonomous techniques that (operations visible to user)
jeopardise the security and safety
• Credibility
of vital information.
(outcomes are acceptable)
There is a need to define what
• Auditability (efficiency can be
‘acceptable behaviour’ for an AI system
easily measured)
translates to in its respective application
domain. This should ideally drive design • Reliability (AI systems perform
considerations, engineering techniques as intended)
and reliability. Due diligence in ensuring
• Recoverability (manual control
that AI technologies perform in an easy
can be assumed if required)
to understand manner and the outcome
from their applications is in line with Owing to their vague and contextual
the perception of fairness, equality and interpretation, ethical standards pose a
local cultural norms to ensure broad challenge while being encoded into AI
societal acceptance. systems. Some architectural frameworks
that have been widely cited to counter
AI development will hence need
the above challenge are:
involvement of experts from multi-
disciplinary fields such as computer • An architecture designed with
science, social and behavioural sciences, operational AI distinct from a
ethics, biomedical science, psychology, monitor agent responsible for legal
economics, law and policy research. and ethical supervision of any
actions
AI algorithms might, by design, be
inherently subject to errors that can • A framework to ensure that AI
lead to consequences such as unfair behaviour is safe for humans and
outcomes for racial and economic implemented through a set of
classes—for example, citizen profiling logical constraints on AI system
behaviour
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About the authors
This knowledge paper has been co-authored by Indranil Mitra, Prasun Nandy,
Udayan Bhattacharya and Deboprio Dutta. Indranil Mitra and Prasun Nandy are
Directors and focus on the AI field for the Data and Analytics practice. Udayan
Bhattacharya is a Manager and works on AI, machine learning and cognitive
automation along with Deboprio Dutta,
Senior Consultant.
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©2017 PwC. All rights reserved.
Contacts
Arnab Basu
Partner and Leader, Technology Consulting
[email protected]
Pawan Kumar S.
Partner and Leader, Technology Consulting
[email protected]
Sudipta Ghosh
Partner and Leader, Data and Analytics
[email protected]
Indranil Mitra, PhD
Director, Data and Analytics
[email protected]
Prasun Nandy
Director, Data and Analytics
[email protected]
Udayan Bhattacharya
Manager, Data and Analytics
[email protected]
Deboprio Dutta
Senior Consultant, Data and Analytics
[email protected]
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