On Wednesday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shared insights into how residents in Indian villages are contributing to the development of artificial intelligence (AI) tools for the tech giant. During his annual visit to the country, Mr Nadella highlighted AI's potential and the opportunities it brings.
"Great to be in India this week meeting with changemakers like the team at Karya, who are doing the critical work of building high-quality datasets for AI and expanding economic opportunity at the same time," Mr Nadella wrote on X.
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Mr Nadella mentioned a social impact organisation located in Kharadi, Maharashtra, where individuals contribute their voices to Microsoft for training AI models in the Marathi language.
"In India, if you don't speak Hindi or English, it can be difficult to access technology that helps people thrive -- apps, tools, and digital assistants that English and Hindi speakers take for granted. The fact that hundreds of millions of potential customers could benefit from those technologies is why Microsoft and others are in a race to make their products available in those 'under-resourced' languages," the tech giant stated.
Baby Rajaram Bokale, 53, is one of the members of Karya and her voice will be used to train AI models in Marathi. Mrs Bokale read stories in Marathi and recorded them in the Karya app approved by Microsoft. In 11 days, Mrs Bokale worked for 5 hours and earned Rs 2,000.
"I'm really proud that my voice is getting recorded, and someone is about to learn Marathi thanks to my voice," says Bokale, who is 53, "and also proud that it will make these tools and features available in Marathi."
She runs a small business grinding spices and chilli peppers out of her home.
