Apicon Solutions, student team JK77 honoured for using AI to safeguard India’s rich cultural heritage | Mint

India’s rich cultural heritage faces an uphill battle against the forces of time and neglect, and the by-products of human activity. This reflects not just in our art forms and structures which are fast diminishing, but also the alarming rate of environmental degradation, which threatens India’s unique biodiversity and the delicate balance of its natural ecosystems.

The Mint All About AI | Tech4Good Awards 2024, sponsored by Salesforce, celebrated the impactful contributions made by Apicon Solutions and JK77 as they were honoured with the Gold and Silver category awards respectively in the ‘Best Use of AI in Arts and Culture’. Watch the webcast of the awards event below,

Leveraging AI to preserve our Arts and Culture

For a heritage-rich country like ours, AI can revolutionise the arts and culture sector by streamlining processes and opening up room for innovation. For instance, AI can automate tasks like grant management for artisan clusters, freeing up resources for creative endeavours.

The ‘Best Use of AI in Arts and Culture’ category recognises some pathbreaking AI-led solutions that have simplified grant management and helped preserve the rich biodiversity of flora and fauna that India is home to.

Winner of the Gold category: Apicon Solutions

India offers a rich selection of traditional art forms, which are gaining popularity not just within the country but overseas too. But, the artisan sector is highly unorganised and

underdeveloped. In order to promote our arts and culture, the government offers grants to the tune of ₹2-5 crore to build artisan clusters under its SFURTI scheme. The old system requires manual data entries, which can lead to delays, inefficiencies, and limited oversight.

This manual process hindered effective fund disbursement, making it challenging to manage funds for over 20,000 artisans who were spread across 55 clusters. Delays in support and limited ability to effectively guide artisans were significant challenges. To address these issues, a scalable solution was urgently needed to streamline operations and enable real-time reporting.

Identifying this as a problem, Apicon Solutions automates grant management for artisan clusters with an AI-powered platform, streamlining application processes and fund disbursement.

“AI offered an efficient, scalable way to automate the complex, data-intensive processes of grant management, reporting, and communication with 20,000+ artisans. By leveraging Natural Language Processing (NLP) and analytics, we could ensure government officials have instant, clear insights into each artisan cluster’s status, improving the responsiveness and decision-making. AI-driven automation also addressed manual errors, reduced claim processing from weeks to minutes, and introduced transparency and accountability, ensuring equitable and timely support for artisans,” said Durgesh Satyam, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Apicon Solutions Private Limited.

The AI-driven platform uniquely integrates finance management, Natural Language Analytics, and grant processing automation into a single system tailored to the handloom and handicraft sector. “Scalable across various artisan clusters and adaptable to other cultural sectors, this solution minimises human intervention, enhances data accuracy, and empowers officials with instant insights. This innovation transforms traditional grant management, setting a benchmark for using AI in government-backed cultural initiatives, and can expand to benefit other artisan sectors and non-profit initiatives globally,” he further said.

Winner of the Silver category: JK77

This award category saw a unique entry from JK77, a student-led organisation, which uses AI to enhance environmental conservation through a system that prevents humans from exploring nature at the cost of the natural ecosystem of the region. Their solution is focussed on the Lakshadweep Islands, which stand at a high risk due to global warming, facing severe coastal erosion and land loss.

“Larger islands like Minicoy and Kavaratti could lose up to 60 per cent of their coastal areas. Conservationists warn that increased tourism may further harm these already vulnerable ecosystems, causing locals to bear the consequences. Rising ocean temperatures, turbulent seas, and erosion have already led to the submergence of Parali 1. Without intervention, human interference could endanger the islands’ unique reefs, lagoons, beaches, and sand dunes,” said Janisha Hota, Co-owner of JK77.

The organisation has created a virtual representation of the Lakshadweep Islands using AI. This has minimised the environmental impact while promoting awareness and appreciation of the region.

“By using AI-driven modelling and immersive VR, we could simulate the islands’ landscapes, reefs, and biodiversity with high realism, offering a sustainable alternative to physical tourism. This approach not only prevents ecological harm but also educates users about conservation, allowing them to experience Lakshadweep’s beauty responsibly. AI enabled us to blend technology with cultural preservation, advancing ecotourism through a digital platform,” he added.

The AI solution uniquely combines high-resolution VR with real-time ecological data, allowing users to explore a hyper-realistic model of Lakshadweep that evolves with environmental changes, such as rising sea levels or coral health updates. “Scalable across diverse ecosystems, this AI-driven approach can extend to other sensitive locations, offering immersive, low-impact tourism solutions. By demonstrating AI’s potential for conservation-focused tourism, our project sets a new standard in ecotourism, inspiring the industry to adopt technology that balances exploration with preservation,” said Hota.

About the Salesforce All About AI | Tech4Good2024 Awards

TheMint All About AI | Tech4Good Awards 2024, sponsored by Salesforce,has set a benchmark for recognising how AI can be harnessed as a force for good, from combating climate change to democratising access to education and healthcare. This initiative aligns with the growing need for responsible and ethical AI solutions prioritising societal well-being.

The awards showcased the transformative power of artificial intelligence in addressing some of society’s most pressing challenges. With over 100 competitive entriesvying for recognition, the event highlighted the breadth of innovative AI applications across various sectors.

The awards night was attended by a prestigious gathering of 160 industry leaders, technologists, and change makers at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai. Additionally, the event’s impact extended globally, with 12000 participants joining via livestream, demonstrating the widespread interest in AI-driven solutions for societal good.

This incredible turnout underscores the relevance of AI in driving sustainable progress and the eagerness of audiences worldwide to celebrate and learn from these groundbreaking efforts.