Use Artificial Intelligence technology to aid farmers, divyangs, PM Modi tells scientists

NEW DELHI:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged researchers and scientists to make use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make the lives of “divyangs” (differently-abled), farmers and the needy simpler. Modi made the appeal in his monthly radio programme Mann ki Baat, saying machines are getting smarter through self-learning.

Talking about the uses of AI, he said, “We can be alerted about natural calamities. Can we help farmers know about their crops return? Can it be used to improve the reach of the medical services and help in curing diseases in more advanced ways? Technology and machines should be used for betterment of humankind.”

Modi also mentioned his last month visit to Ahmedabad with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, and recalled how a youth in Ahmedabad’s Deo Dholera village had developed technology for people who cannot speak. “He developed a device, where a dumb person, whatever he wants to speak just needs to write, which gets converted into a voice,” he said.

Modi also remembered physicist and Noble prize winner C V Raman, saying that on February 28, the nation celebrates National Science Day, the same day when Raman discovered light scattering. The PM also praised the Trash Mahotsav, organised in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur.  

In his speech, Modi referred to International Women’s Day, which is observed every year on March 8. Recalling the words of Swami Vivekananda, who had said the idea of “perfect womanhood” was “perfect independence”, he said ensuring the participation of women in all fields of life is every Indian’s fundamental duty.