STATE TIMES NEWS
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he wants to bring the best education for children in the country and fill any gaps created by shortcomings of teachers with technology.
In an interaction with philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Modi said that visual content is being developed to cater to children’s interests.
“I want to bring the best education to our children. The shortcomings of teachers, I want to fill with technology. If a child’s interest lies in visuals, in storytelling, we are developing content in that direction. I have conducted some surveys, I have seen, children are really enjoying it,” he said.
In the candid, free-wheeling chat, Modi spoke at length on how India has democratised technology for the benefit of its citizens, embracing the power of digital for improving lives, and exuded confidence that the country will take remarkable strides in the fourth industrial revolution, that has digital at its core.
Modi also cautioned that a powerful technology like AI in unskilled, untrained hands holds significant risk of misuse, as he advocated the need for clear ‘dos and don’ts’ and use of watermarks on AI-generated content to curb misinformation and deepfake-related harms in the society.
The prime minister said he used to hear about digital divide in the world and had decided that he will not allow this to happen in India.
“When I used to hear about the digital divide in the world, I used to say, I will not let this happen in my country, that there be a digital divide. And digital public infrastructure is itself a big requirement. Today, I want to bring the digital facilities to villages,” he said.
Lauding the “digital government”, Gates said India is not just adapting technology but is actually leading the way and some of the digital systems create efficiency by getting rid of the middlemen, which is super beneficial.
“I sometimes say that I want to run such a government, as far as the middle class is concerned, the government should move out of their life, there shouldn’t be any need for the government in their life. Where there is a poor person, where the government is needed, there the government should be fully there. But where there is no need, without reason the government keeps doing – bring this, bring that, do this, do that. So, that will stop,” Modi said in response.
He said his government wants to allocate funds to scientists for local research in cervical cancer for developing vaccines at a minimal cost to ensure all girls are vaccinated against the serious disease. Modi said should the NDA be voted back to power, his priority will be to invest significantly in this research to safeguard the lives of India’s daughters. “In the coming days, I want to allocate funds to our scientists for cervical cancer research targeting young girls. I want to give them budget and encourage them to conduct local research to make vaccines. My goal is to vaccinate all girls in our country at a minimal cost to ensure that they are protected from cancer,” Modi said.