<p>Bengaluru: A national conference on using Artificial Intelligence to improve accessibility for people with disabilities was organised by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in the city on Friday.</p>.<p>The event. titled ‘AI for All, Innovating Inclusion, Empowering Lives’, was held in collaboration with the Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO).</p>.<p>Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary, DEPwD, spoke about the evolution of AI and its role in empowering people with disabilities across various sectors in India.</p>.<p>He was joined by two speakers — Venu Govindraju, a professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo, USA, who presented a detailed comparison between AI and humans, and Amrita Kamat from Google India, who shared insights into the tech giant’s developments in AI and inclusivity.</p>.<p>The conference featured two panel discussions, ‘Innovations for an Inclusive India’ and ‘Assistive Technology Leveraging AI.’ Both discussions focused on recent and upcoming technological advances in India for people with disabilities, across sectors like sport, education, and remote employment.</p>.<p>Buddha Chandrashekhar, one of the panellists, shared a recent innovation from Anuvadini, an initiative by the Ministry of Education: “We have created voice-based webforms. As most of the web forms are in English, 85% of Indians are unable to understand them. Using our technology, one can hear the webforms in 14 Indian languages and respond by speaking. The webform records everything and translates it for the officials concerned.”</p>.<p>The conference also provided a platform for Indian startups to demonstrate their assistive AI innovations focusing on developmental disorders, and visual and hearing impairment disabilities.</p>.<p>Daira Edtech, Assistech, and CoRover.AI were among the organisations that made presentations at the event. The event also featured cultural performances by Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled and Miracle on Wheels.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: A national conference on using Artificial Intelligence to improve accessibility for people with disabilities was organised by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in the city on Friday.</p>.<p>The event. titled ‘AI for All, Innovating Inclusion, Empowering Lives’, was held in collaboration with the Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO).</p>.<p>Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary, DEPwD, spoke about the evolution of AI and its role in empowering people with disabilities across various sectors in India.</p>.<p>He was joined by two speakers — Venu Govindraju, a professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo, USA, who presented a detailed comparison between AI and humans, and Amrita Kamat from Google India, who shared insights into the tech giant’s developments in AI and inclusivity.</p>.<p>The conference featured two panel discussions, ‘Innovations for an Inclusive India’ and ‘Assistive Technology Leveraging AI.’ Both discussions focused on recent and upcoming technological advances in India for people with disabilities, across sectors like sport, education, and remote employment.</p>.<p>Buddha Chandrashekhar, one of the panellists, shared a recent innovation from Anuvadini, an initiative by the Ministry of Education: “We have created voice-based webforms. As most of the web forms are in English, 85% of Indians are unable to understand them. Using our technology, one can hear the webforms in 14 Indian languages and respond by speaking. The webform records everything and translates it for the officials concerned.”</p>.<p>The conference also provided a platform for Indian startups to demonstrate their assistive AI innovations focusing on developmental disorders, and visual and hearing impairment disabilities.</p>.<p>Daira Edtech, Assistech, and CoRover.AI were among the organisations that made presentations at the event. The event also featured cultural performances by Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled and Miracle on Wheels.</p>