With AI and respect for language diversity, English can be a bridge to opportunity, not a gatekeeper of privilege, writes Deepak Verma.

India sits at the intersection of two powerful trends: first, English has become the global language of professional mobility. Second, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has matured into a personalised, adaptive force capable of transforming how people learn. Together, AI offers a historic opportunity to remove the English language barrier that has long limited economic advancement for millions of Indians.

A decade ago, English mattered, but it was not the default language of business or governance. Many states conducted routine administration in their own languages under Official Language Acts. Students in Odisha or Rajasthan could complete school with limited English exposure, and small or mid-sized firms often operated entirely in Gujarati, Marathi, or Kannada. However, the picture is changing fast. Today, most state governments are effectively bilingual. Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have expanded English-medium schooling to future-proof students, while Punjab has launched a statewide English skilling initiative for every high-schooler.

Job listings across sectors—IT, banking, even domestic services—now routinely demand strong English skills. A 2022 research study by Refeque and Azad found that English proficiency raises wages by up to 30%. For young Indians, English is no longer an advantage but almost a necessity. 

Education theorists speak of an ‘iron triangle’ of cost, quality, and access: improve one and the others suffer. English training in India has long illustrated this tension. Intensive coaching can deliver excellent results, but it is expensive and reaches only a fraction of the population. Scaled programmes often lower costs but sacrifice quality.

Learning journeys have very different starting points and unfold in different ways. One-size-fits-all at scale is suboptimal, but personalised attention is expensive. Fundamentally, guided instruction is necessary but not sufficient; you need practice to build fluency. It is like tennis: knowing how to serve is not enough; only relentless practice builds skill.

Three Enablers of Change

Today, three forces stretch that triangle into something more elastic: affordable smartphones, near-universal data access, and cloud computing. These make it possible to deliver sophisticated AI-driven tutoring to anyone with a basic device and internet connection.

AI can now assess a learner’s baseline across LSRW, generate a personalised learning pathway, and provide instant feedback on pronunciation, grammar, and comprehension. Crucially, it can adapt in real time: if a student struggles with listening comprehension but excels in reading, the system adjusts the exercises and difficulty automatically.

The Path Ahead

Challenges such as rural connectivity gaps, device affordability, and the need for teacher training to integrate AI tools effectively are still there. Policy support is emerging; the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 encourages technology-enabled, multilingual education, creating space for public-private partnerships that blend classroom teaching with AI tutors.

While AI enables personalisation at scale, it in itself is not a silver bullet. AI, especially the Large Language Model (LLM) kind, works like a black box and has a propensity to hallucinate. Even with specialised guardrails that incorporate sound learning pedagogy, solutions can veer off course. Unsupervised learning journeys with LLM-based AI – especially for young learners – can be counterproductive and downright dangerous. There is good news here: alternative AI architectures are emerging that are explainable, transparent, and 100% hallucination-free. Solutions built on this type of AI will be effective and safe, even when unsupervised.

A Bridge, Not a Barrier

AI cannot replace the motivation and practice required to master a language, but it can provide something once thought impossible: high-quality, low-cost, individualised English instruction at a national scale. Adopting English does not have to mean giving up our linguistic diversity. By leveraging AI while respecting India’s multilingual heritage, English becomes a bridge to opportunities rather than a gatekeeper of privilege.

The English advantage that once belonged to a small urban elite can now reach a rural teenager with a smartphone and a data plan. India is on the verge of breaking through the English barrier, as AI-powered solutions will enable millions of Indians to build their English skills and learn to learn in English, propelling their participation in a truly global economy.