While several major technology companies are lending a hand to budding engineers and existing employees to upskill them in new technologies amidst talent crunch, global chip maker Intel India is on a mission to demystify artificial intelligence (AI) for all age groups, different levels of students, citizens and researchers with its skilling programmes in India. As of today, the company has already trained over 2 lakh students between 8th standard and 12th standard in AI and has upskilled 5,000 government officials. In July this year, Intel launched another programme'AI for All' with a target of enabling over one million citizens with knowledge and know-how of AI, Nivruti Rai, Country Head, Intel India told BusinessLine. "Talent is a critical need for Intel and everybody else. AI is important and will generate even more jobs. Yet AI is a black box and many people talk about it without really understanding the technology. So, we first trained all our Intel employees. Then, we started looking to train students, government officials and citizens," Rai said.

The sudden outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has created havoc in the education sector worldwide. Students are uncertain about when the educational institutes will again commence their classes, especially in India. Almost all the educational institutes are closed since March 2020 due to the emergence of the corona waves and the increase in infected cases. But one of the most important sectors in India is the education sector. The future of India depends on smart and intelligent youth.

Tech giant Intel and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to digitally empower nearly 1 lakh students with Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration in India's education system. Initiatives include the roll-out of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) curriculum framework for grades VIII, IX and X for 22,000 schools, with the aim to empower 1 lakh students within 2020, the company said in a statement. The curriculum is based on'Intel AI For Youth', which is an immersive, hands-on learning programme using experiential methodologies covering both social and technological skills. "AI has become a strategic imperative for worldwide economic growth and will continue to be one of the most crucial technologies of the future," said Shweta Khurana, Director-Programmes, Partnerships and Policy Group at Intel India. "Our collaboration with CBSE is a meaningful step towards enabling our youth to become digitally-empowered and effectively utilise emerging technologies such as AI to solve pressing local and global challenges," Khurana added.