The debate around AI in India has become polarised - while advocates present it as a panacea for solving India’s persistent developmental challenges, critics highligiht the threats to liberty, rights, and equal opportunity that AI technologies. There is currently a lack of extensive and grounded research in India on the actual uses of AI in order to inform policy. While new opportunities and harms related to AI are announced in the media almost daily, there is a need for research grounded in the country’s unique context in order to identify the key issues related to AI development and deployment in India.

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This report provides a snapshot of India’s AI ecosystem, by examining the existing AI-based products and services across 9 key sectors. It identifies 70+ types of AI use across these sectors, and provides an overview of possible benefits, challenges to adoption, and potential harms across these sectors. Based on this analysis, the report presents key policy pathways for AI in India that can shape societal trajectories of AI towards an equitable, safe, and just technological future.
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This project was carried out by the team at Tandem Research, the former home of the Responsible Technology Initiative.