Virudhunagar, a town in southeastern India, can boast temples that date back thousands of years. But not far from those ancient sites, people are working on the latest tech - artificial intelligence.
One of those is Mohan Kumar. My role is in AI annotation. I collect data from various sources, label it, and train AI models so they can recognize and predict objects. Over time, the models become semi-supervised and can make decisions on their own, he says.
India has long been a centre for outsourced IT support, with cities like Bangalore or Chennai being traditional hubs for such work. But in recent years firms have been moving that work into much more remote areas, where costs for staff and space are lower.
The trend is known as cloud farming, and AI has given it another boost with numerous towns, like Virudhunagar, hosting firms working on AI.
So does Mr. Kumar think he is missing out, by not being in a big city? Professionally, there is no real difference. Whether in small towns or metros, we work with the same global clients from the US and Europe, and the training and skills required are the same, says Mr. Kumar.
Mr. Kumar works for Desicrew. Founded in 2005, it was a pioneer in cloud farming. We realized that instead of forcing people to migrate to cities in search of jobs, we could bring jobs to where people already live, says Mannivannan J K, the chief executive of Desicrew. For too long, opportunities have been concentrated in cities, leaving rural youth behind. Our mission has always been to create world-class careers closer to home, while proving that quality work can be delivered from anywhere.
Desicrew does all sorts of outsourced work including software testing for start-up firms, building datasets to train AI, and moderating content. At the moment 30 to 40% of its work is AI related, but very soon, it will grow to 75 to 100%, says Mr. J K.
Much of that work is transcription - turning audio to text. Machines understand text far better, he explains. For AI to work naturally, machines must be trained to understand variations in how people speak. That's why transcription is such a crucial step; it forms the foundation for machines to comprehend and respond across languages, dialects, and contexts.
Back at NextWealth, Dhanalakshmi Vijay fine-tunes AI. For example, if it confuses two similar-looking items, like a blue denim jacket and a navy shirt, she will correct the model. These corrections are then fed back into the system, fine-tuning the model so that the next time it sees a similar case, it performs better, she explains.
While both NextWealth and Desicrew have claims of stable internet and data security, experts emphasize the need for establishing trust with international clients regarding data protection standards. As rural India positions itself as a substantial player in the AI revolution, the consolidation of technology, local talent, and global demand seems poised to spur remarkable transformations in the job landscape.
