India 15th in top 25 AI nations but has greatest upward potential'

India may be 15th among the top 25 Artificial Intelligence nations, but it has the 'the greatest upward potential' according to research by Tufts University's business school, the Fletcher School.

- SURAJEET DAS GUPTA New Delhi, 26 December

At the top is the US, followed by China, fighting for global leadership in AI followed by the UK, Japan, and Germany. In the 15th spot, India is ahead of Brazil, Argentina, Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia and Thailand.

The researchers wanted to compare the state of AI across countries based on four drivers: The rapidly accumulating pools of data through broadband consumption; the rules of how data can be accessed, which include data governance policies and cross-border data flow; capital, which includes talent, investments, diversity of AI talent and evolution of the digital foundation; and finally, an innovation which includes patent applications, citations, publications, etc.

Bhaskar Chakrovorti, dean of global business at the Fletcher School, led the research and concluded that India's potential could be enormous if appropriately steered.

"It has the second fastest growing pool of data of the countries we studied (after Indonesia). It already has the world's largest pool of mobile data.