AI boosts efficiency for some in India

Category: Technology/Innovations

Listening

Unlocking Word Meanings

Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.

  1. roll out / roʊl aʊt / (phrasal v.) – to introduce or launch something new, often a product, service, or plan
    Example:

    The company is rolling out a new app for online shopping.


  2. dashboard / ˈdæʃˌbɔrd / (n.) – a screen or page in a computer program that shows important information clearly in one place
    Example:

    The manager checks the sales dashboard every morning.


  3. internship / ˈɪn tɜrnˌʃɪp / (n.) – a period of time when a student or recent graduate works for a company to gain experience
    Example:

    She applied for an internship at a marketing company.


  4. tedious / ˈti di əs / (adj.) – boring and tiring because something takes a long time or is repetitive
    Example:

    He found the long meeting tedious.


  5. mammoth / ˈmæm əθ / (adj.) – extremely large
    Example:

    The company made a mammoth investment in new technology.


Article

Read the text below.

As the use of artificial intelligence surges across the globe, the technology is steadily gaining ground in India. Businesses, start-ups, and individuals are experimenting with new ways to improve efficiency and scale.


The Indian government is also rolling out national initiatives to fund research and train workers in the field of AI. That push was displayed at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, which was attended by heads of state, senior officials, and technology executives.


With nearly a billion internet users, India has also become a key focus for global tech companies to scale their AI businesses in one of the world’s fastest-growing digital markets. From farms to classrooms, AI is fast emerging as a tool for many Indians to boost efficiency, helping them cut time, rising costs, and labor constraints.


In New Delhi, students and educators are using AI technology to help them find solutions for their work. Anirudh Singh, a Master’s student in social work from Delhi University, has developed a virtual dashboard using AI as part of an internship project on mapping six states for weather predictions in 2026, including data on heat and rain risk.


“I think AI is just reducing the tedious work that students generally had to do. Like, looking at various studies and then coming for a single line or a single crux of that article, we have to read the whole article. AI is reducing the tedious work, and that’s what Google did when it came, and AI just improved on it,” he said.


Educator Swetank Pandey teaches at a civil services coaching center, a sector known for its fierce competition and mammoth volume. Millions of young Indians compete for civil service jobs each year, and coaching institutes are forced to process vast numbers of tests, evaluations, and revisions.


Pandey said AI has made that workload easier to manage. Pandey said the technology helps him carry out the same task on a loop, allowing tens of thousands of answer sheets to be evaluated in as little as 20 to 25 minutes.


This article was provided by The Associated Press.


Viewpoint Discussion

Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.

Discussion A

  • According to the article, students and educators in New Delhi are using AI technology to help them find solutions for their work. In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of implementing AI at work (ex. it can do tedious human work, it can lead to fewer jobs for people)? Discuss.
  • Educators and students use AI to lighten their workload. Do you think that depending on AI in an educational setting is useful, or does it make the users lazy? Why do you say so? Discuss.

Discussion B

  • India has nearly a billion internet users, but access to AI is still limited to certain groups. How do you think AI development can be made accessible to everyone, not just those in cities or wealthier areas? Discuss.
  • Do you think people in rural areas or small towns know enough about AI to use it effectively? Why or why not? Do you think this would widen the gap between the rich and the poor? Why or why not? Discuss.