AI Beyond Metros: Empowering Farmers, Patients, and Learners Decades of research have shown that to effectively reach the Indian masses, organizations need to localize their policies, products, and services—AI can help expertise the process

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) has its downsides, it has demonstrated the potential to transform several lives and fight against current suppressing social, economic, and governance issues. When it comes to the Indian economy agriculture becomes the heart of it—nearly 70 per cent of rural households' livelihood depends on it. The fact is all farmers are not the zamindars (Landowners), around 80 per cent of farmers have a small area of farming. What is cursing their lives is extreme climate events like droughts, floods, and infestations. On top of this, lack of healthcare access makes living hard for rural masses.

However, several Indian agri-AI-startups are adding value to agriculture by enhancing productivity, sustainability, and minimizing risks from natural disasters through early forecasts. Some of them are– AnthroKrishi that leverages AI to organize agricultural data using satellite imagery and machine learning to optimize crop yields, Jiva, a mobile app which supports smallholder farmers by offering financial access, agronomic advice, and fair markets, Wadhwani AI's CottonAce which provides pest control alerts, and Cropin which uses AI and remote sensing to detect infestations and diseases. Additionally, Farmer Bot, integrated with the e-NAM portal and Google Cloud's Chat Bison model, offers real-time crop prices in multiple languages. And yet, the list is not completed—indicates in coming years, we could expect small-scale farmers will also benefit from such initiatives.

Healthcare access is another social issue for the Indian rural population. Especially, when it comes to critical diseases, the rural population suffers a lot because of lack of awareness, economic support and access to best medical services in their regions. Because of AI we could expect that it can improve diagnosis, access, and disease management for Indian masses. There are some of the examples such as Karkinos Healthcare, which provides cancer screenings and treatments to underinsured populations, enhancing early detection. AI is also addressing critical health issues like maternal mortality–which is becoming another problem in the Indian population. Through a partnership with ARMMAN, Google developed an AI solution to identify women at risk of leaving health information programs, enabling personalized interventions for expectant mothers. Additionally, AI-powered platforms improve healthcare accessibility in rural areas. Practo, India's largest digital healthcare startup, leverages AI and data analytics to connect patients with healthcare providers, offering affordable, personalized care for underserved communities.

Decades of research have shown that to effectively reach the Indian masses, organizations need to localize their policies, products, and services. Especially, when it comes to bridging gaps in education and employment. We could expect that AI could make it fast, and cost-effective. There are various AI-driven startups and initiatives that are reaching the masses such as Rocket Learning Foundation, which uses AI to enhance early education with AI coaches that provide localized content, automated grading, and personalized learning paths. Another program, the Read Along Initiative (Bolo) leverages voice-recognition technology to improve learning outcomes. AI-driven platforms like APNA are helping connect millions of workers with personalized job opportunities based on their skills and experience.

"As the Indian Government looks to realise the potential of AI technologies to serve Indian society, and increase the public's trust in AI, it has a critical global role to play in developing AI policy frameworks whereby safety, security, innovation, and opportunity are addressed cohesively. We look forward to partnering with the Indian Government, industry, and civil society to build an AI-driven digital future that works for everyone," the Google concluded in its "An AI Opportunity Agenda for India report".