SAPI organises a webinar on ‘AI as a Force Multiplier in Defence’

New Delhi: "In the times to come the country that leads in technologies using artificial intelligence will dominate the globe, and if India wants to lead, it needs to decode and deploy AI aggressively, especially in strategic sectors like defence so that we as a country do not lag behind", most of the speakers taking part in the webinar 'AI as a Force Multiplier in Defence' stressed upon the idea of India taking lead in deployment of AI. The webinar, which is the first in the series of webinars on 'Demystifying AI' was organised by Security and Policy Initiatives (SAPI), a New Delhi based think tank on April 23. Chairman of National Statistical Commission Professor Bimal Roy (Padma Shri) was the chief guest and Managing Director (MD) of Mitkat Advisory Col Samrendra Kumar was the keynote speaker at the event.

The speakers were unanimous on the view that India doesn't have a dearth of talent and was on a better footing than most countries. However, there is an immediate need to build a conducive eco-system with an appropriate support structure in the form of infrastructure and funding for AI talent to flourish and deliver.

Aivot.ai CEO Alok Tewari explained his idea of using AI to detect existing tunnels, especially across borders (this idea is particularly useful for western borders where the discovery of tunnels for infiltration is a common phenomenon) and how AI can be leveraged for coastal security 24X7 in conjunction with drones within territorial waters, which is also a much-required intervention. Innosapien's CEO Sarang Nerkar explained his collaborative coalition-based model for the development of AI applications for defence which is a workable model for Startups. Sarang further stressed that while developing AI solutions its applicability in the Civilian sector should also be kept in mind as the Defence process takes a long time to fructify.

Professor Roy stressed the integration of cryptography into AI, not only to improve or automate attack techniques but also to create security proofs or to uncover errors in security proofs. Col Sam gave examples of how AI could be a force multiplier in Army, Navy, Airforce, Cyber and Space defence; but cautioned to beware of the dark side of AI.

"China and USA have already taken a big leap, so time for us starts now", concluded the webinar.

Post debriefing, the Founder of SAPI Pradeep Gupta speaking to Defence Watch said that while SAPI strives to produce actionable knowledge by bringing together the industry, academia and decision-makers on one platform, SAPI is for ethical, humane and transparent AI. He observed that the adoption of AI and new Age Tech is yet to gather pace in the country though there is keen interest. There should be a synergy of AI experts and Domain experts for effectively developing AI solutions.

While SAPI's Co-Founder Dr Sangeeta Goel announced that SAPI is going to organise a webinar dedicated to Border Management soon besides continuing with the AI series.

The webinar was well attended by AI-based startup CEOs, academicians, researchers, bureaucrats, services officers, and journalists among others.

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