Keynote – Vinod Khosla
Summary
Khosla presented three AI‑enabled public‑good services targeting India’s underserved populations:
- AI tutors – free, 24/7 personalized learning for millions of children, already serving 4 million Indian students.
- AI doctors – low‑cost, AI‑driven primary care triage accessible via smartphones, reducing the need for in‑person visits.
- AI agronomists – voice‑first, expert advice for smallholder farmers, even for illiterate users.
He advocated integrating these services into the Aadhaar ecosystem for identity‑based delivery, arguing that AI can compress a century’s progress into a few years if deployed at scale.
Khosla warned that without coordinated government‑backed non‑profits, the private sector alone cannot bridge the last‑mile gaps. He called for a Section‑8 non‑profit to develop, own, and operate these AI services for the public good.
Key Takeaways
- AI for the bottom‑half: Free tutors, AI doctors, and AI agronomists for rural India.
- Aadhaar integration enables secure, universal access to AI services.
- Scale potential: AI could accelerate a century’s development into a few years.
- Public‑private partnership: A non‑profit structure is needed to ensure equitable distribution.
- AI as a societal leveler: Democratizing AI access can significantly reduce inequality.