Welcome FB Initiative

With the launch of the Indian Innovation Accelerator programme, social media giant Facebook has set the stage for start-ups in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) innovation. With a focus on AI for what it called ‘social good’, Facebook on Wednesday said it would mentor and support promising start-ups in the business of leveraging AI for addressing the existing gaps within high social impact areas. It is reassuring to hear Facebook India Vice President and Managing Director Ajit Mohan say that Facebook is “an ally for India’s economic growth and social development” and it is making an “effort to understand how we can contribute to the development of deep technology in India, as well as corral resources to use these technologies to develop impactful solutions for tough and persistent problems”. What is the all more significant is that Facebook should think it is its responsibility to launch 100 scholarships for students and developers who are focused on nurturing their ideas for utilizing AI for social good, enabling them, especially students, to gain access to advanced courses on deep learning, called machine learning too. That the social networking behemoth has also floated a programme called Women in AI Hackathons, keeping in mind the power that Indian women in the AI domain can unleash, is a shoot-ahead sort of initiative that can go a long way towards empowering the country’s women. Coupled with the fact that the Narendra Modi government has rightly emphasized the need for augmenting the AI sector – whose ramifications are many in almost all areas of concern, notably in the health sector in recent times, as also in agriculture, Facebook deserves a pat on its back for its innovation-driven strategy for India whose younger generation is now drawn heavily to the AI realm. It is for the youth now to hone their skills and make the best use of the edge they have.