New-age skills are gaining prominence in every sector and this includes the entertainment industry as well. Hence, when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her maiden Budget speech said that the government will focus on new-age skills like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things, Big Data, 3D Printing, Virtual Reality and Robotics, it was welcomed by the industry players. According to them, these skills will lead to newer job opportunities and even offer higher remuneration to employees. But if the question the use of these technologies these sectors, then there are various cases. For example, AI is being used significantly in meta data generation.
If there is a video clip online, the more data there is about that video clip, the greater the ability to use that video clip in different situations. With the help of AI engines and software, specific elements are automatically identified in a particular scene. There are few startups too that are trying to specialize in this field.
The other aspect where AI is used a lot in India is embedded with data analytics. Data is being used as a powerful tool for marketing to audiences. People’s comments, mentions and shares are analysed on social media. For example, a marketer takes note of positive sentiments in comments like thank you or a thumbs up for a film’s marketing content.
And uses this to mark territories where the probability of the film doing well is more. Social media analysis is also used to determine screen count across territories. Online video platforms are also using AI aggressively to personalise content for every individual. Platforms using AI have algorithms that learn over time what users want to watch and recommend similar content. Even Bollywood has resorted to AI to maximise reach of films. Producers of 2017 release Shaadi Mai Zaroor Aana collaborated with Infinite Analytics, a predictive analytics company that started operations in 2012, to apply analytics to rope in audiences for the film. Infinite Analytics identified the lead actor Rajkumar Rao’s films, music, food, books and recommended the same for the film. Then social media was analysed to find out people with similar preferences. This data was then given to the filmmakers who kept in mind preferences of the people like the language or clothing while making the trailer of the film. As a result of successful implementation of data analytics, the trailer of the film reached a million hits within five days of its release. Companies are training machine learning algorithms to help develop film and television promos, which will bring down the entire process of making trailers to 24 to 48 hours, down from the minimum two weeks required currently. This is why employees with new-age skills will make them more relevant, lucrative and more employable. In addition, “removal of all foreign direct investment (FDI) cap will help the industry push technology in areas of Big Data, AI, Machine Learning and Robotics,” believes Rahul Puri, MD of Mukta Arts A2 Cinemas. In the current environment where the entire IT landscape of enterprises is changing, India will once again be the powerhouse for solving AI and ML and Data Science needs of the Fortune 2000 businesses. Conventional service lines offered by IT services leaders are being transformed to AI and Digital service lines by these companies. So it has a great future in Indian IT industry.
Likewise several startups are emerging in areas of business enabled by AI/ML like healthcare, ecommerce etc. Recently Flipkart announced an initiative for AIFORINDIA.
Another pioneering effort is by government which wants to embrace data based governance. Look at Open Government Data (OGD) Platform India the repository maintained by Government of India.
So future of AI ML Data Science is bright in India.
