Atal Innovation Mission, NASSCOM To Teach AI Basics To School Students

In a bid to impart artificial intelligence (AI) basics to students, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has launched an AI-based educational module for school students. In collaboration with Niti Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), the programme is expected to teach AI to around 2.5 Mn students associated with Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL).

Atal Tinkering Labs are dedicated works spaces where school students learn innovation skills. The labs are powered to acquaint students with state-of-the-art equipment such as 3D printers, robotics & electronics development tools, IoT and sensors.

The educational module will help students to understand the AI technology in an interactive way through videos, activities and experiential learning. The students will be able to learn  concepts as well as their use-cases.

Niti Aayog’s CEO Amitabh Kant said the AI module is critical as it will help young students explore the world of AI. “It combines playing and academics, and our job is to make things very interesting. We want to make artificial intelligence a great fun so that children can enjoy it, they can evolve and learn and take India forward,” Kant was quoted as saying by Livemint.

For this programme, NASSCOM has also partnered with other tech companies including Microsoft, Adobe, SAP Labs and Wipro who will provide tools and learning material for students. NASSCOM is also working on an AI step-up module which is expected to further improve the AI curriculum for these students.

Atal Innovation Mission claimed this is the first-ever industry-government academia initiative on such a scale which will help school students to remain updated of latest technologies.

According to a recent study, the revenue of the AI industry was also doubled in 2019 from $230 Mn in 2018 to $415 Mn in India. Moreover, a PwC study estimates that the AI industry is expected to reach globally to $15.7 Tn with India having a noticeable share of this industry.

These estimates clearly highlight that AI is going to be an important part of most of the operations of other industries and hence preparing students with AI-based educational module becomes a necessity for India. Teaching them with AI at the school level is expected to increase their curiosity in the subject and will also help them to become more employable, according to NASSCOM president Debjani Ghosh. “A workforce that is aware of AI and can work with AI,” she added.