This week, Microsoft, OpenNYAI, and AI4Bharat collaborated to launch a chatbot in India called Jugalbandi, an AI solution designed for mobile devices and meant to assist all Indians, especially those in underserved communities. The AI chatbot uses voice recognition and natural language processing models to understand, transcribe, and interpret verbal and text queries in 10 Indian official languages. Jugalbandi can respond to a variety of queries ranging from scholarship information to pension advice and even government assistance payment inquiries.
The idea behind Jugalbandi is to bridge what is known as the “technical” and “linguistic” divide in India, where up to 120 different languages are spoken. By using the power of voice recognition and natural language processing, Jugalbandi serves as a “chatbot plus plus” aiming to provide knowledge and assistance to those in media-dark areas such as rural villages. Since the launch of Jugalbandi back in April, it has seen some promising results, such as with Vandna, a 18-year-old college student from the village Ferozepur Jhirka, who used the chatbot to find scholarships.
Microsoft has been continuously working to make AI chatbots a reality in India, and its journey began in November 2019 when OpenAI launched their own ChatGPT. This ushered in a wave of AI chatbots from big tech companies such as Google, to which Chinese tech giant Baidu recently launched their own chatbot, Ernie, to Chinese residents this year.
Microsoft’s Asia division is now hoping to use Jugalbandi to access medical information in Urdu and English-language court documents in Tamil. Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, tweeted about the chatbot’s introduction to rural India and how it has unlocked a sense of empowerment in those areas.
Since the inception of AI chatbots, they have come a long way in helping make life easier for those in need of assistance. As the race to build the most impressive AI chatbot rages on, Jugalbandi marks yet another milestone in the AI journey, one aimed at helping those in underserved communities.
