India, Britain can become worlds best places for AI adoption: UK minister

London, Feb 16 (PTI) The big artificial intelligence laboratories may be found in the US and China, but India and Britain can become the best places in the world for the adoption of AI, UK Minister for AI and Online Safety Kanishka Narayan has said. 

The Bihar-born Labour MP from Wales, who is in India to attend the AI Impact Summit, which opened in New Delhi on Monday, believes the technology presents huge benefits across the services, healthcare and life sciences sectors. 

Narayan’s core message during his two-city tour this week, covering Bengaluru and Delhi, will be to highlight that both countries are pursuing the same objective of ensuring the “exceptional” economic opportunity of AI is tapped into responsibly. 

“A lot of the big AI labs are in the US or in China. The opportunity for the UK and India is to become the best places in the world for the adoption of AI; not necessarily just the invention of AI,” Narayan told PTI in an interview.  

“I think that’s a really important and big area. I’m thinking adoption in areas like services, in areas like healthcare. India has got a huge population and a large-scale, innovative healthcare sector as well. The UK has a world-leading life sciences sector anchored by the NHS (National Health Service) – huge exchanges to be done in learning there, in particular. 

“The second thing is how we think about the next iteration of R&D in AI… with a focus on frontier AI and semiconductors. And then the third is shaping responsible AI, because I think we have a great opportunity as two countries grounded in similar values to make sure that AI works for everyone. How we develop those standards on assurance, on governance, on responsible use of AI is a really important part of it,” he said. 

The 36-year-old, who has the distinction of being the first Welsh member of Parliament of Indian heritage, will be pitching the UK as a prime location for Indian AI firms to invest and expand. 

“The UK should be on top of their mind because it is one of the top three AI places in the world. We have, both in terms of research quality and volume of startups, more unicorns than France and Germany combined; by far the biggest tech ecosystem in Europe.  

“We are among the global top three – the US, China and then the UK. And so, we are right up there in terms of scale and quality. And, we are open to collaboration and open to the very best in the world coming and building exceptional companies, exceptional research here. In a context where others might be shutting their doors to opportunity, we are opening our doors to exceptional opportunity, exceptional people.” 

The minister highlighted the UK’s Global Talent Visa as an example of a “concierge service” to help tech talent from countries like India to accelerate their processing in Britain.

“This is all about making sure that the best talent in the world, a lot of it in India, feels that Britain is truly open to exceptional AI talent,” he said. 

The minister pointed to Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) data from last year, registering a whopping 24 billion pounds of investment in AI companies in the UK, which in turn announced 28 billion pounds in AI infrastructure spending. 

“The deepest connection between the UK and India is that both our people relentlessly chase the future; and being able to build a deeper bridge between exceptional AI talent in India and what we think we can offer them, and vice versa, that is really the central opportunity,” said Narayan. 

On the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) concluded last July and moving towards implementation in the coming months, the British Indian minister said doing a deal with a “rapidly growing economy” like India is a sign of Britain “chasing the future, spreading opportunity, and doing it with countries that share our values”. 

“From time to time, we end up striking negotiations and agreements between our two countries. But the thing that persists through those periods of negotiation is the living bridge that remains. 

“And so, the politics might change on the two sides, and the free trade agreements might change, but the thing that’s really constant is that our people have this deeply shared experience, and that is the fundamental source of the strength and durability of the UK and India’s connection,” he said. 

After his two-day visit to Bengaluru to explore bilateral tech collaborations, Narayan will head over to New Delhi to join the AI Impact Summit deliberations.