Future of AI - India in 2050

Sachin Jaiswal Jul 20, 2017

If you look back a decade or so, household mechanical robots were predicted to live in our houses and follow our commands to do anything asked, by 2020. This seemed to be an optimistic dream without solid instances to support it. The technological advancements happening back then made us believe, but the feasibility, reach, adoption rate, impact and further developments may have hindered this possibility.

The time has definitely changed now. A developing country like ours may not have been looked at to be one of the top smartphone and internet consumers among all other countries. The scenario, however, has been the stark opposite.

Now, AI needs data to train itself and become more capable. With the current pace, the smartphone and internet users in India may pass 1 billion by 2050. With such large scale connectivity and available data, it is safe to assume that AI will make its way on everyone’s smartphones and computers in the form of software programs, to say the least. This will happen while we may not even notice.

For example, we’re already using AI at places we don’t realise - A misspelt Google search yields results along with an alternative which you might have wanted to search instead. That is AI, right there. Google’s algorithms learn and suggest relevant and best options to you every time you search.

For consumers:

A few developments that seem to be bound to happen in the way consumers interact with machines:

With the likes of Alexa by Amazon already seeing great adoption, voice controlled virtual assistants at one’s home to take care of tasks such as playing music, controlling home appliances, or even booking a cab can make a place for them in everyone’s houses by 2050.
An average Indian smartphone user uses 15-20 apps in a month on his or her smartphone. Chatbots may replace apps completely in the near future since they have the capability to take a consumer from choosing to buying a product in the most natural way - through a conversation. A chatbot can handle what 15-20 apps can, on a single chat window interface.
Physical devices or machines like Google’s self-driven car may become a sight in every street with improved infrastructure
All the routine tasks like getting a cab and ordering food to bill payments can be predicted to be handled by AI-based tools completely.

Experts say that ‘spotting the bot’ may become impossible in the coming years. This means that every other tool you use for every task you need to get done, AI will be making it better so subtly that we might not even notice its presence. You fail to notice something that is everywhere, and bots do seem to make it to that stage by 2050.

For organisations:

While businesses are rapidly adopting and leveraging AI-bots to automate and make better a variety of tasks, they’re still not ubiquitous, which can definitely be a case in the future.

Govt. organisations: With so much of user data in India, AI can definitely help Govt. organisations form better policies, streamline internal processes and thus make them more efficient than ever.
Some sectors such as healthcare, education and finance have already seen great results with the use of AI. It has helped find cures for many diseases, improved literacy rates of countries and brought closer to true financial inclusion. True capabilities will be unleashed in the coming years, when one can imagine being operated by an AI-based virtual surgeon.
By 2050, most of the tasks in an organisation will be handled by AI - be it marketing and sales automation, customer service, accounting, recruiting etc. This will help them cut costs and improve the overall quality significantly, hence increasing profits.

These are just a few out of the million use cases and possibilities AI brings with itself. With everyone so connected now, adoption and advancements are moving ahead with an unforeseen pace. If machines truly become intelligent (which is happening), we should be ready to see a world full of efficiency and convenience by 2050.