The Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) has expressed concerns about a widening disparity in the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) use cases, with most training models being run by large technology firms and offering only a limited number of foreign languages. GSMA’s Chief Technology Officer, Alex Sinclair, believes that BharatGPT, a generative AI platform developed by Reliance Jio in collaboration with IIT Bombay, has the potential to bridge this gap by serving speakers of 14-plus Indian languages, including Hindi.
Sinclair highlighted the dominance of large tech players in the AI domain, with a focus on English or Mandarin, neglecting the linguistic needs of the rest of the world. He emphasized the growing concern about a new AI gap and the need to ensure its benefits reach all corners of the globe.
To address this challenge, GSMA has forged a partnership with the Barcelona Supercomputer Centre to focus on minority or underrepresented languages. Additionally, GSMA has collaborated with IBM to offer courses through the GSMA Advanced initiative, training telecom executives and industry professionals in harnessing the potential of AI and exploring its various possibilities and use cases.
Sinclair also emphasized the role of over-the-top (OTT) apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and Meta, which heavily rely on telecom network infrastructure. He stressed the need for OTT platforms to contribute a ‘fair share’ of the revenues they generate to support the network investments made by telecom operators.
This call for fair revenue sharing reflects a global trend, with telecom carriers in the US, Europe, and Southeast Asia advocating for contributions from large internet companies. Sinclair believes that governments can play a role in providing incentives to bring all parties to the negotiating table and address this issue.
In addition, GSMA’s open gateway project has opened up Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for worldwide developers to develop solutions deployable by telecom carriers across sectors. Sinclair highlighted the potential of this initiative, particularly for identifying and eliminating fraudulent messages, benefiting banks and financial institutions.
GSMA remains committed to addressing the AI disparity and promoting a balanced and inclusive adoption of AI technologies for the benefit of all its members and the broader global community.
