IIT Madras Launches Centre for Human-Centric AI to Elevate Human Potential

IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation has launched the CHAI to harness AI for amplifying human potential. The centre aims to identify risks, guide future regulations, and ensure safe, responsible AI development.

Centre for Human-Centric AI

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation has launched the ‘Centre for Human-Centric Artificial Intelligence’ (CHAI) to leverage AI in amplifying human potential, presenting a critical opportunity for India. The Centre will focus on technology development, fostering entrepreneurship, enhancing human resource capabilities, and driving international collaborations.

Striking a balance between regulation and innovation is essential. The newly-launched Centre will identify risks to guide future regulations, ensuring India’s AI development remains safe, responsible, and contextually relevant, while maximizing innovation. IIT-M Pravartak, the parent organization, is already collaborating on projects of national importance with the Supreme Court of India, the Indian Parliament (via Sansad TV), and the Indian Army.

Centre for Human-Centric AI

The new centre will collaborate with Central and State Government agencies, industry, start-ups, and academic researchers to create solutions that enhance and amplify human potential in India. These solutions, along with the insights gained, may also be applied globally. The centre’s focus will encompass three key dimensions: enhancing human potential, protecting citizens, and amplifying societal values rooted in culture and heritage.

Setting the expectations for this Centre, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “Human Centric AI Systems seem to be the most convincing ones for the end-users to adopt. Developments in CHAI will look at various aspects of deployment of AI systems, specifically from explainability and responsibility points of view.” Speaking on the occasion, Lt.Gen. KS Brar, AVSM, GoC Dakshin Bharat, said that the centre should focus on Empowering the future where AI serves humanity, enhancing lives and fostering a better world for all.

Elaborating further, Prof. Gaurav Raina, the Chief Scientist at the Centre, who is also Faculty, the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras, said, “The focus of this Centre also aligns with the broad principles of Industry 5.0, which emphasises human-centricity and sustainability. The focus will be on translational research that leads to impactful solutions in the form of data sets, AI models, tools and AI applications in the areas aligned with the scope of the centre”.

Key areas of focus for research and development include:

• Language Models: A key focus will be on developing smaller, domain-specific language models tailored to contextualized data sets.
• Languages: The centre will prioritize Indian languages, as well as other non-English languages, starting locally with the potential for global impact.
• Responsible and Safe AI: Our R&D will address critical issues such as privacy, bias, and ethical considerations, ensuring that our solutions are both innovative and ethically sound.

Capacity Building in AI

The Centre will offer internships for students nationwide to work on cutting-edge AI projects, while IIT Madras students can pursue research with co-guidance from the Centre. This initiative will help build AI talent in India.

Applications will focus on enhancing human potential in sectors like education, healthcare, finance, transportation, and law. For citizen protection, the Centre will address issues like cybersecurity, cyber-fraud, and disinformation, contributing to the strengthening of democracy.

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