AI will change West Bengal within a decade. The question is who benefits.
AI is already changing how people work, learn, farm and use public services. For West Bengal it could close old gaps, or open new ones between those who have the skills and those who don't. Which way it goes depends on decisions made in the next few years.
Six places AI can make West Bengal better.
None of this is science fiction. Early versions of each are already being tried in India, and each could work here.
More productive companies
Kolkata's enterprises, from banking to manufacturing to logistics, can use AI to serve customers faster and run leaner.
New work, and changed work
AI will create jobs in Bengal and change many more. The state needs to plan for both.
Better decisions in the field
Crop advisories, weather alerts and market prices for rice, jute, potato and tea growers, and for fishers in the Sundarbans.
Care closer to home
AI-assisted screening can extend what rural health workers can do, from Cooch Behar to the coast.
Faster public services
Clearer services in citizens' own language, with privacy and fairness built in.
Bangla in the age of AI
Bengali is among the ten most spoken languages in the world, yet AI tools still serve it less well than English. Bengal should lead the fix.
Four gaps hold West Bengal back.
Each gap widens if it is left alone. Each can be closed when tech leaders, companies, academics and government work on it together.
The window is open. It won't stay open.
The choices West Bengal makes now about skills, language, data and rules will set its position for a generation.
How we plan to close the gaps.
Six research areas, each to be led by a task force of tech leaders, academics and industry experts.