New Delhi [India], February 18 (ANI): Leaders from across the globe underscored the need for equitable, collaborative and responsible development of artificial intelligence (AI) at the India AI Impact Summit, highlighting education reform, global South partnerships and accountable governance as key themes shaping the future of AI.

Speaking to ANI at a sideline event of the summit, Thiago Rached, Co-founder of Brazilian ed-tech company Letrus, emphasised the importance of ensuring that AI reduces inequality rather than deepens it.

'Main takeaway for me of the AI Impact Summit is about trying to answer the key questions we have today because of AI. So we're talking about how do we make AI really work to reduce inequality rather than foster it. We have some big questions on employability, for instance. There are important questions about how governments can really protect data and their intelligence in this world where technology is very concentrated,' he said.

Rached acknowledged that while definitive answers remain elusive, discussions at the summit have helped provide direction. 'Obviously, we don't have like very precise answers but we do have some insights and some directions about where we should head,' he added.

Highlighting the role of AI in transforming education, Rached said, 'I think that the education system as a whole is broken. And I think while we do can make it more efficient, the key question is about how we can transform education. How can we really make AI work to change reality rather than just making it little bit better.'

Reflecting on similarities between India and Brazil, he noted, 'It's my second time in India. For me, one of the great realisations is that we have way more things in common than differences. And I think many of the challenges that you tackle, for instance, like early age, literacy, early age, child care, adult literacy, are some of the problems that we can see that we have very similar situations. So I think that there is a lot of collaboration. There are some organisations that are doing great work in India that we can learn from. And we see that solutions that we're building in Brazil can really be worked in India as well.'

Alexander Tsado, Director at UDU Technologies, described the summit as a major platform for Global South engagement, particularly highlighting African participation.

'It's been incredible this whole week. it's been incredible to meet the rest of the global South as you have organisations from Latin America, from Asia, from India engaged with us,' he said.

He pointed to the Africa AI Village as a key hub of interaction.

'And what's been particularly great is that we do have the Africa AI Village in one of the exhibition rooms and that has really been a nexus bringing organisations and people who are interested in the African AI innovation to come talk with all of us. The 20 companies that are there, it's been really great,' Tsado said.

Tsado stressed the potential for deeper collaboration between India and Africa.

'It will be really incredible for Africa and India to work together because when you think about it, we have a bit of similar history or pathway towards technology. India tends to do things, in fact, when you look at the numbers in venture capital, looks like Africa trends five years behind India. And with AI, it's a little similar to that,' he said.

He added that both regions prioritise access and social impact over profit maximisation. 'As two regions of the world, we tend to care a lot about providing access to basic human livelihood. So we think less about how do you increase profit with AI and more about how do you increase access to basic things that people want in life, almost like AI for low resource areas.'

Tsado revealed that UDU Technologies is already exploring partnerships with Indian institutions. 'In fact, with our organisation, before coming to India, we already decided to partner with pretty large Indian organisations like Wadhwani AI Institute, which has a number of use cases that can work in even villages in Africa. And we're thinking of how do we localise their approaches in Africa.'

On overcoming collaboration challenges, he said, 'There's always challenges in collaboration where I think ways to smoothen them out includes thinking about shared interests, areas of alignment, and then figuring out how you work on the first small thing together that will help improve trust. Once trust is created, you can start increasing the level of scale, collaboration, and impact.'

Harsh Singh, Head of Growth and Strategy at Wadhwani AI Global, described the summit as both high in participation and substance.

'So far, the summit has been extremely interesting. I think we've congregated a great sum of people, but not just quantity, but also quality delegates. I think there are organisations and institutions making impact across the world that are present here and showing up. And I think India is at the center of all of this. And it's great to see the way India is shaping this conversation for the next few years,' he said.

Singh emphasised India's role not just as a consumer but as a creator of AI technologies.

'I think it's very easy to mistake India as a market of AI. But I think India is not just a market, but we're also builders of AI. We've got great services since years in technology, and I think that will translate into AI. So I think India has a great role to play in AI and in technology as a whole. So this is exciting. The summit is going to be a great way to start that,' Singh said.

On data security and privacy, Singh highlighted the importance of implementation. 'I think talks about security and privacy will start with policy, but end with execution. And I think the government and ministries across India have been doing a great job at putting out policies, putting out guidelines. I think the real answer will lie in the execution of it. So how do we hold every organisation, every vendor accountable to the data of different citizens in the country. And I think that's where the answer lies, and we're excited to see how that shapes up.' (ANI)