Why India needs to urgently build local language generative AI models

It almost feels like there was one world before ChatGPT, and a very different world after ChatGPT. From the stories that are emerging from around the world about ChatGPT and generative AI, and the uses to which these are being put to, it looks like we are at the beginning of a revolution that will transform just about everything around us. At the root of one form of generative AI is what is called a large language model (LLM). LLMs enable businesses to automate language-related tasks.

But there is an issue. The LLMs right now generally cater to English-speaking audiences. Since the vast majority of Indians don’t speak English, creating LLMs for Indian-language content seems like a no-brainer. Indeed, it can be transformational. So, with the help of Nasscom, we held a webinar on the subject last week with some of the country’s foremost experts in the space, where we discussed the potential in Indian language LLMs, and the challenges in building them.