IIT Delhi alumni launches PiFy, WhatsApp-based, AI-powered education tool for resolving academic doubts

The tool's AI is designed to cater to a wide range of academic needs, covering all subjects, competitive exams, and regional languages.

To provide instant academic support and benefit those who may hesitate to seek help in traditional classrooms, IIT Delhi alumni have created PiFy, India’s first WhatsApp-based AI software for students, offering innovative and affordable educational support.

Read the full article at: https://www.educationtimes.com/article/newsroom/99737615/iit-delhi-alumni-launches-pify-whatsapp-based-ai-powered-education-tool-for-resolving-academic-doubts

Biden admin’s cap on GPU exports may hit India's AI ambitions

The outgoing US administration’s proposed rule to curb the import of graphics processing units (GPUs) by certain countries may hit India's ambitions. GPUs power heavy artificial intelligence (AI) models and applications.


Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/biden-admins-cap-on-gpu-exports-may-hit-indias-ai-ambitions/articleshow/117245296.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

TCS to hire 40,000 freshers from campuses this year with AI skills expected at all levels, CHRO says: Report

TCS is increasingly integrating the use of AI into various functions and that it is an important skill to have across all levels of the hierarchy

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) plans to hire 40,000 freshers from campuses this year, the IT giant's Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) Milind Lakkad said.He added that despite the quarterly headcount fluctuations, TCS manages through a combination of “employees on the bench, ongoing productivity enhancements, and other operational adjustments.”(Representational Image/Mint)

This however, comes at a time when its headcount had decreased by over 5,000 employees in the third quarter of the financial year 2024-25.

“In any given quarter, changes in headcount don't always reflect growth or demand because our hiring plans are structured on an annual basis,” TCS Lakkad said in an interview with Business Standard.

He added that despite the quarterly headcount fluctuations, TCS manages through a combination of “employees on the bench, ongoing productivity enhancements, and other operational adjustments.”

Lakkad said that the company is increasingly integrating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) into various functions and that it is an important skill to have across all levels of the hierarchy such as E0, E1, E2, E3, and so on in what has been described as a “pyramid with different skill sets.”


Even for the entry-level E0 tier, TCS expects employees to have a foundational understanding of large language models (LLMs) and their applications.

At the E1 level, employees have to be able to work with LLM APIs, which is a skill set similar to that of prompt engineers.

At E2, employees have to use TCS GenAI tools.

At levels E3 and above, TCS expects by default, advanced expertise in AI and its applications across various domains.

However, Lakkad said that while AI is certain to transform jobs, it will more likely change the nature of the roles rather than eliminate them altogether.

“AI will enhance efficiency, but humans will continue to play a crucial role—especially in client-facing and knowledge-intensive roles, where the value of human insight and empathy remains irreplaceable,” he added.

He also said that degrees are a must as they provide foundational understanding necessary for the broader demands of the services industry as TCS requires “more than just coding skills.”

India must prioritise frontier AI research to drive innovation: Nadella

During his visit to India, Nadella announced strategic partnerships with the Government of India and industry leaders to advance cloud and AI transformation.



NEW DELHI: India must prioritise frontier research in artificial intelligence (AI) and develop foundational models to drive innovation, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella said on Wednesday.

However, he noted that major investment is required to overcome the entry barrier and a single groundbreaking mathematical discovery can revolutionise the entire AI landscape.

“There is no reason why India can’t do frontier work, but you can even define frontier pretty unique. For example, I don’t think the last known big breakthrough in AI frontier has happened. I always say we are one mathematical breakthrough away from that entire edifice being thrown out and being going after something else,” said Nadella

During his visit to India, Nadella announced strategic partnerships with the Government of India and industry leaders to advance cloud and AI transformation. This comes on the heels of its plan to invest $3 billion in cloud and AI infrastructure in India over next two years, including establishment of new data centres.

Microsoft has partnered with RailTel to advance digital, cloud, and AI transformation in the Indian Railways and public sector space. As part of this five-year partnership, Microsoft will support RailTel in establishing an AI center of excellence (CoE).

The company has also joined forces with the Mahindra Group to transform automotive, farm and financial services with AI. Additionally, it has partnered with Apollo Hospitals to co-innovate, jointly develop products and drive digital transformation in the healthcare sector. The partnership will also focus on research in areas such as disease progression and genomics.

Furthermore, Microsoft has entered a strategic partnership with Bajaj Finance to enhance digital transformation and deliver seamless experiences for Bajaj Finance’s customers. The company has signed a MoU with India AI, a division of Digital India Corporation, to collaborate on advancing AI and emerging technologies in India.

Source: https://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2025/Jan/09/india-must-prioritise-frontier-ai-research-to-drive-innovation-nadella

Microsoft to invest $3 billion in India, boost AI, cloud infra

BENGALURU: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced plans to invest $3 billion in India in cloud and AI infrastructure, including setting up new data centres over the next two years. He added the company is committed to training 10 million people with AI skills by 2030.
The $3-billion additional investment in India, Nadella said, would represent the single-largest expansion into the region. "The diffusion rate of AI in India is exciting. This is the golden age for systems when it comes to innovation," he told a crowd of over 3,000 developers who had gathered to listen to him in a massive exhibition centre in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

In his nearly 11 years as CEO, Nadella has transformed Microsoft with his bets on cloud computing and AI, and the infusion of a culture of collaboration, enabling the pioneering computing company to become the second in the world to touch $3 trillion in market capitalisation (the first was Apple).

A lot of Microsoft's work is today driven by its vast base of engineers in India. The company also sees India as an increasingly attractive market. "I had a chance to meet PM Modiji yesterday and it was fantastic. It's great to listen to his vision of how he wants to drive AI missions. It's the combination of the yojanas (schemes), the India Stack, the entrepreneurial energy in this country, and the demographics on both the consumer and business sides that are all coming together in a virtuous cycle," Nadella said.
Nadella said infrastructure today needs to be thought of differently from the traditional ways. "With infrastructure, there's a new formula for any country or company. I think of that formula as tokens per dollar per watt. Fundamentally, their (country or company) growth depends on how efficiently they can drive that equation," he said.


Tokens per dollar per watt is a measure of the efficiency of AI applications, essentially signifying how many tokens (units of information) can be generated per dollar spent on computing power, while also considering the energy consumption (measured in watts) required to produce those tokens. Essentially, it highlights the cost-effective and energy-efficient performance of an AI system.


This infra, Nadella said, needs to be the highest priority. And Microsoft, he said, is innovating in every layer of it. Microsoft, which counts Air India, PwC, and Biocon as customers in India, said it's copiloting South Asia's AI transformation with 800 customers and fivefold returns for every dollar the company invests in GenAI, with 70% of its clients seeing productivity benefits.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/microsoft-to-invest-3-billion-in-india-boost-ai-cloud-infra/articleshowprint/117035643.cms

AICTE declares 2025 as ‘Year of AI’ to shape India as global leader

The initiatives will span across AICTE-approved institutions, impacting over 14,000 colleges and 40 million students nationwide

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has announced 2025 as the “Year of Artificial Intelligence (AI)” to shape India as a global leader in AI. The initiatives under this declaration by the technical education regulator will span across AICTE-approved institutions, impacting over 14,000 colleges and 40 million students nationwide.

“With this bold announcement, AICTE aims to embed AI within the fabric of higher education, fostering innovation, ethics, and leadership to position India as a global leader in AI-driven progress,” AICTE said in a statement.

AICTE chairman TG Sitharam in a letter has urged all its affiliated institutions to submit their AI implementation plans by December 31, 2024, which will be reviewed by its approval bureau, with top submissions featured as benchmarks for other institutions. He has urged the AICTE-approved institutions to adopt five measures to “affirm India’s leadership in AI”. Five measures include institutions taking pledge to make India a global leader in AI through innovation, ethics, and education, displaying this commitment prominently on campuses; launching AI awareness campaigns; updating curricula to include AI topic fostering interdisciplinary approaches; conducting workshops and certifications to equip faculty with AI teaching expertise; and partnering with AI-driven organisations to provide real-world exposure through internship, projects and mentorship.

AICTE will organise workshops and certifications to upskill faculty in AI education. Students will receive real-world experience through internships, projects, and mentorships through collaborations of their colleges with global companies like Adobe, Cisco, and International Business Machines (IBM). Top-performing institutions will be recognised with awards as models of AI excellence.

“As we dedicate 2025 as the Year of Artificial Intelligence, let us unite to build a future-ready workforce. Together, we can shape India as a global leader in AI innovation, ethics, and education, fulfilling our shared vision of self-reliance and prosperity,” Sitharam said.

Officials at AICTE-approved institutions are adopting AI in their courses to prepare students for job markets. Institutions are also conducting teachers training by industry experts to empower them.

Dr Ankit Chaudhary, professor of Computer Engineering at the School of Engineering (SoE), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) said, “In the first year, all BTech students are introduced to Data Science. In the second year, they study Introduction to Artificial Intelligence. Third-year students are taught Machine Learning (ML) and Computer Vision, while fourth-year students explore Deep Learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP). Technology changes after every five years and we have to update ourselves accordingly. Students are needed to learn job-market relevant skills and usage of AI in BTech syllabus will boost their employability. We regularly take feedback from industry leaders and prepare curriculum to train our students for better jobs.”

SoE offers two BTech programs: Computer Science and Engineering (BTech CSE) and Electronics and Communication Engineering (BTech ECE).

Sujith Kumar, a professor at T John Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, said, “We have already added topics related to AI in some of our courses. As asked by AICTE, we are making plans to use AI to reshape education. We will organise seminars to raise awareness about AI among students”

Ashok Kumar Mittal, founder chancellor of Lovely Professional University (LPU), Phagwara said that there are challenges in adopting new technologies due to less training opportunities, and resistance to change.

“To empower educators, LPU has established a comprehensive professional development program. This initiative includes workshops, seminars, and hands-on training sessions conducted by experts in the field of AI and education technology. Teachers are introduced to a variety of AI tools such as adaptive learning platforms, virtual tutors, and data analytics software tailored for educational use. They learn how to integrate these tools into their lesson plans to improve learning experiences for students,” he said.

LPU offers several AICTE-approved courses in engineering, management and pharmacy among others.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/aicte-declares-2025-as-year-of-ai-to-shape-india-as-global-leader-101735055534296.html

AICTE and MyAnatomy Establish Strategic Alliance, Initiating a New Era for Skill Assessment and Development

In a groundbreaking move to enhance technical education and skill development, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and MyAnatomy have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to address the evolving needs of India’s workforce. This strategic alliance signifies a substantial leap towards bridging the gap between academia and industry, fostering a globally competitive talent ecosystem.

For nearly Eight Decades, AICTE has been at the forefront of technical education in India, driving innovation, excellence, and employability through visionary initiatives. The council’s internship and job portals have connected over 550 million students with opportunities across 76,000+ companies, while its Global Developer Corps (GDC) program and Post-Doctoral Fellowship scheme have further strengthened India’s position as a leader in AI technologies and cutting-edge research.

AICTE has taken a humble yet transformative initiative to incorporate skill assessments into its internship portal. By partnering with MyAnatomy, a leading AI-driven digital talent platform, AICTE aims to enhance skill diagnosis, competency mapping, and career progression. This collaboration leverages MyAnatomy’s advanced assessment technologies to create industry-aligned skill development programs, personalized learning paths, and job-role-specific assessments like the National Competence and Employability Test (NCET).

MyAnatomy is a cutting-edge digital talent platform that leverages AI and automation to seamlessly connect employers, job seekers, and educational institutions, revolutionizing the talent landscape. With a skill-first approach, MyAnatomy offers comprehensive solutions such as Skill Assessment, Recruitment as a Service and Learning-as-a-Service, along with an end-to-end Recruitment Process Management System. The platform empowers candidates by identifying skill gaps, creating personalized career roadmaps, and enhancing employability. MyAnatomy is committed to fostering a balanced and thriving talent ecosystem that meets the dynamic demands of today’s workforce.

This collaboration marks a significant milestone in addressing the evolving needs of India's workforce. By combining AICTE's vast network and regulatory framework with My Anatomy’s innovative technology, the partnership aims to:
1. Empower individuals across various professional profiles with highly advanced, scientifically designed AI-driven assessments and interviews for accurate self-diagnosis of skills.
2. Enable professionals to create personalized career progress plans, paving the way for successful futures in an increasingly competitive job market.
3. Provide organizations with enhanced tools to identify the right candidates, ensuring a perfect match between skills and job requirements.
4. Bridge the gap between academia and industry by aligning skill development programs with current market demands.
5. Optimize campus placements, Internships and Career progression plans with well-designed Learning paths, enhancing the employability of fresh graduates.

Dr. Chandrasekhar Budha, CCO, AICTE stated, “Our partnership with MyAnatomy represents a significant technological leap in skills assessment. We're committed to preparing India's youth for tomorrow's workforce through holistic, diversified skill evaluation.”

Mr. Chinmay Kumar Dash, CEO, MyAnatomy, emphasized, “This collaboration combines innovative AI technology with AICTE’s educational expertise to nurture India’s talent ecosystem and drive global competitiveness.”

As India continues to cement its position as a global technology and innovation hub, this partnership between AICTE and MyAnatomy stands as a testament to the nation’s commitment to developing a skilled, adaptable, and world-class workforce. This initiative aligns with the vision of Viksit Bharat by enhancing employability- building a developed, empowered and globally competitive India.

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Source: https://cbs4indy.com/business/press-releases/ein-presswire/770054162/aicte-and-myanatomy-establish-strategic-alliance-initiating-a-new-era-for-skill-assessment-and-development/

It’s not so much machines we should worry about

In the 1940s a journalist asked Claude Shannon, one of the founders of information theory, “can machines think?” Shannon said, “I compute so.” Both his distinction, between thinking and computing, and their deliberate conflation in his aphorism help us understand the current spectacle around ‘AI’. Governments worldwide have moved from a position of “we’re catching up” ignorance, to embarking on “regulating AI”, to a self-regulatory Bill of Rights.

Read the full article on Page No. 14 in the Print edition of The Times of India dated 8th August 2023.

Machine-Learning Tool Easily Spots ChatGPT’s Writing ChatGPT’s academic papers were caught 99 percent of the time

Since OpenAI launched its ChatGPT chatbot in November 2022, it has been used by people to help them write everything from poems, to work emails, to research papers. Yet, while ChatGPT may masquerade as a human, the inaccuracy of its writing can introduce errors that could be devastating if used for serious tasks like academic writing.

A team of researchers from the University of Kansas has developed a tool to weed out AI-generated academic writing from the stuff penned by people, with over 99 percent accuracy. This work was published on 7 June in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science.

Heather Desaire, a professor of chemistry at the University of Kansas and lead author of the new paper, says...

Read the full text here - https://spectrum.ieee.org/chatgpt-2661369022

The Human-Powered Companies That Make AI Work

The hidden secret of artificial intelligence is that much of it is actually powered by humans. Well, to be specific, the supervised learning algorithms that have gained much of the attention recently are dependent on humans to provide well-labeled training data that can be used to train machine learning algorithms. Since machines have to first be taught, they can’t teach themselves (yet), so it falls upon the capabilities of humans to do this training. This is the secret achilles heel of AI: the need for humans to teach machines the things that they are not yet able to do on their own.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2020/02/02/the-human-powered-companies-that-make-ai-work/#4c738345670c

5 Soon-to-Be Trends in Artificial Intelligence And Deep Learning

Artificial intelligence is frequently discussed yet it’s too early to show real gains. AI’s major headwind is the cost of the investment, which will skew returns in the short-term. When the turnaround occurs, however, companies who are making the investment can expect to be rewarded disproportionately with a wide performance gap. In a recent report, McKinsey predicts AI leaders will see up to double the cash flow.

To read the full article, please visit:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bethkindig/2020/01/31/5-soon-t0-be-trends-in-artificial-intelligence-and-deep-learning/#3813411b5e56

AI Boom In India: AICTE Will Launch B.Tech In AI; IBM Will Create AI Curriculum For Class 12th

As per the reports coming in, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has approved Bachelors of Technology(B. Tech) course in Artificial Intelligence(AI) and data science to fulfill the requirements coming for AI skills from different sectors,as informed by Anil Dattatraya Sahasrabudhe, AICTE chairman Chennai on Saturday.


Another report is coming from Bengaluru wherein the Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE) has also announced for the addition of AI as an elective subject for students of classes 9 -12.

Why AI And Data Science?


Recently a news came from Public Sector Banks like SBI, IDBI hiring for specialized skills. According to analysts, there is a constant requirement of skilled workforce across all sectors and some of these positions remain vacant because of a lack of skilled manpower to fill these positions.


India stands among the top 5 countries in the world when it comes to AI-driven startups as the future prediction for 2025, most products will use this technology. It is also expected that companies will emerge across sectors with the use of AI in their products.


While companies are doing their part in the digitization of India, the education institutions in the country also has to gear up their game to enhance knowledge and prepare future generations to handle these requirements efficiently.


In IT companies also AI professional’s demand is growing exponentially. In September Infosys was in headlines for hiring resources for AI, UX and Automation technologies.

AICTE B.Tech Course In AI And Data Science

Sahasrabudhe said that a committee is formed to assess the need for offering degree programs in technology has approved AI and Data science courses as part of big transformation, During the session organized by Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI).

While talking about other technologies like the Internet of Things, Blockchain, and Cyber Security, he said that it was decided that they won’t need a full-fledged degree programs in these streams right now, but they can be offered as specialization.

He also informed that they have approved a semester-long training program and also made it compulsory for faculty members to improve the quality of education provided by AICTE.

AICTE constantly working on the quality of education it is providing to society. Some time back they have initiated a program in which the faculty promotions were supposed to be decided by the feedback provided by their students.

AI As Elective For CBSE Students

CBSE has announced to add AI as an elective subject for students in classes 9 – 12 and the curriculum of the subject will be decided by IBM India with the help of other subject experts.

According to reports, IBM will conduct a pilot project in 1,000 schools in various cities in the country. They are considering Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad and Chennai cities to start with before finalizing the curriculum and planning to embed it in CBSE curriculum from the next academic year. The pilot will be launched coming Wednesday in Delhi. (reference TOI)

The idea of launching AI in CBSE curriculum was proposed by Niti Ayog, the government’s think-tank.

Source: https://trak.in/tags/business/2019/09/17/ai-boom-in-india-aicte-will-launch-b-tech-in-ai-ibm-will-create-ai-curriculum-for-class-12th/ (Accessed on September 18, 2019)

AI could improve police paperwork: MHA think tank

BPRD’s futuristic vision for law enforcement , especially in smart cities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious project, is part of a concept note the body has drafted.
In a recent interview with The Economist, author Malcolm Gladwell, too discusses the importance of AI in the criminal justice system.(HT image)


The use of Artificial Intelligence in police paperwork, including charge sheets could remove flaws and prejudices from creeping into investigations, India’s Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPRD), a think-tank of the ministry of home affairs (MHA), believes.

BPRD’s futuristic vision for law enforcement , especially in smart cities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious project, is part of a concept note the body has drafted.

“A machine-learning algorithm can generate chargesheets specific to an incident with complete legal validity without any exclusions or non-conformity. This allows minimal manual intervention; hence the scope for malicious intent is not there in any way and the ability of the legal system to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law is always available. In the charge sheet, references from other judgements as well as other outcomes can also be included to make it more effective,” reads the note, a copy of which has been seen by HT.

Asserting that AI based systems have outperformed lawyers as well as judges in some cases, the BPRD note adds: “A neural network based system over a period of time can also create sensor based inputs in order to predictively allow for the analysis of outcome of cases as well, helping speed up the judicial process. The consequent burden on the policing system goes down”.

In a recent interview with The Economist, author Malcolm Gladwell, too discusses the importance of AI in the criminal justice system. Citing an example of judges taking bail decisions, Gladwell says, “..Defendants stand in front of the judge, the judge has to decide whether I released this person until the trial or I put the person in jail. Are they likely to commit another crime in the interim? That’s an extremely difficult decision to make. And when we look at how effective judges are in predicting the dangerousness of the defendant, they are not very good at it. But look how the machine learning algorithm tends to do better, actually much better than the judge. So there is an instance where we have clear evidence that a disembodied computer can be more accurate in making a prediction about the human being than a judge.”

Gladwell, however, also argues that there is a need to combine both the decision making of humans and AI, a view that many proponents of AI have also advocated.

According to BPRD, AI models coupled with crime mapping can be developed “to analyse crime patterns and identify hotspots which act as a useful tool for predictive and preventive policing”.

The police can also use AI based on algorithmic software at a crime scene for immediate recognition of perpetrator (s) based on modus operandi, pattern of crime/criminals in the area, biometric data, forensic data etc, the note claims. The BPRD note cites the example of San Francisco based Deep Science AI which has developed AI Surveillance (AIS) platform which uses deep learning to identify real people concealing their faces/firearms of intruders.

AI can also be used to manage traffic in smart cities, BPRD has suggested in its note.

To be sure, all this needs integrated data on video surveillance of public places, a wide CCTV camera network, sensors just about everywhere, databases of criminals, information on public transport, real-time tracking of events, and other such, the note admits. It also adds that privacy concerns need to be factored in while using such technologies.

When asked how AI can help police smart cities, Tarun Wig, co-founder of Innefu, a data analytics and cyber security company which provides predictive intelligence systems to various government institutions said: “The AI based system will read the text on a particular case which has to be charge sheeted and extract data on similar charges and relevant law provisions. It can read the type of crimes and tell police how to use its resources”.

BPRD and MHA officials did not respond to queries seeking comment on the concept note.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/ai-could-improve-police-paperwork-mha-think-tank/story-ntYcMOFRvWX8ij4SRlgR4K.html (Accessed on September 13, 2019)

Why AIoT Is Emerging As The Future Of Industry 4.0

Two trends that are dominating the technology industry are the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). But for industrial automation, these two technologies are much more than the buzzwords or trending topics. The convergence of AI and IoT will redefine the future of industrial automation. It is set to lead the Industry 4.0 revolution.

To read the full article, please visit:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/janakirammsv/2019/08/12/why-aiot-is-emerging-as-the-future-of-industry-40/#56077a09619b (Accessed on August 16, 2019)

Behind cutting edge AI work, Lucknow woman who set out to be a doctor

Hailing from Lucknow, Abidi joined the chipmaker as a software engineer and is now responsible for deep learning framework software optimisation for Intel’s top of the line Xeon processors.

To read the full article, please visit:

https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/behind-cutting-edge-artificial-intelligence-work-lucknow-woman-huma-abidi-who-set-out-to-be-a-doctor-5843297/ (Accessed on July 23, 2019)

Artificial Intelligence can help in treating brain tumours: Study

The study showed that using a reference database with MRI scans of patients, the algorithms automatically recognised and localised brain tumours using artificial neural networks. 

Artificial Intelligence can help in treating brain tumours  |  Photo Credit: Thinkstock

London: Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence-based (AI) method for analysis of brain tumours, paving the way for individualised treatment of tumours.

According to the study, published in the The Lancet Oncology, AI machine learning methods, carefully trained on standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are more reliable and precise than established radiological methods in the treatment of gliomas. 

Source: 

7 Indicators Of The State-Of-Artificial Intelligence (AI), March 2019

1. AI “Sputnik moment” (say it in Chinese*) is at hand
2. AI continues to be popular among business executives, regardless of complications, concerns and confusion
3. The race against the machine is on. Still, some humans trust AI more than their governments.
4. “AI” is the new “Big Data” and the new “New Economy.” Tech bubbles are defined by poorly-defined terms and the proliferation of billion- and trillion-dollar forecasts leading to investors’ irrational exuberance
5. After years in the (mostly Canadian) wilderness followed by (almost) seven years of plenty, Deep Learning is officially recognized as the dominant AI paradigm
6. AI is not perfect and will never be. Same as the humans using AI.
7. AI is not perfect. Smart and well-endowed people hope it can be improved by establishing research and education centers focusing on “multidisciplinary collaboration and diversity of thought”

To read in-depth about the above points, please visit:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2019/04/03/7-indicators-of-the-state-of-artificial-intelligence-ai-march-2019/#716c1a80435a (Accessed on April 5, 2019)

Eye on A.I.— Celebrating the Godfathers of Deep Learning

Bengio (Photo by Maryse Boyce), Hinton (Photo by Keith Penner), LeCun (Photo, courtesy of Facebook)

By JONATHAN VANIAN 

April 2, 2019

Artificial intelligence’s growing importance, in both business and research, is largely because of Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, and Yann LeCun—otherwise known as the “godfathers of deep learning.”

Last week, the trio won the annual Turing Award, the technology world’s equivalent to the Nobel Prize, presented by the Association for Computing Machinery. Their research has led to huge breakthroughs in computers translating languages and identifying objects and people in photographs.

At the heart of the men’s research are neural networks, the software created decades ago to mimic how the human brain learns. The technology plays a huge role in artificial intelligence and its close cousin, deep learning.

The analogy of neural networks being like the human brain is something many A.I. researchers and neuroscientists loathe because it oversimplifies an extremely complicated process. “That’s okay,” Bengio, a University of Montreal computer science professor and co-founder of enterprise startup Element AI,said in an interview with Fortune a day before his Turing Award was publicly announced.

For years, the A.I. community ignored neural networks in favor of other techniques that are more closely related to conventional computer programming. But more advanced computer chips and access to Internet data supercharged the power of neural networks, which could now be fed enormous amounts of information so they could identify patterns and, thereby, learn.

“Because as we train these systems with more data, they just get better,” Bengio said.

He recalled how difficult it was to get funding when he initially studied neural networks. Ultimately, the Canadian government kicked in some money. Today, in contrast, artificial intelligence attracts big money from governments and venture capitalists, with most of the investment in the U.S. coming from businesses. Bengio only hopes that other technologies, especially those currently lacking buzz, also have easy access to cash.

“We need to be careful to nurture that spirit and not try to say, ‘That’s the end of it,'” he said.

LeCun, now Facebook’s chief A.I. scientist, also talked with Fortune about his early research into neural networks. During those experiments, he said he focused more on creating computers that “think” rather than how the technology would be applied in real life. But now LeCun believes big breakthroughs are imminent, mostly from businesses that specialize in areas including medical imaging, self-driving cars, and even garden maintenance (i.e. lawnmowers that know to trim only weeds instead of roses). What’s certain is that companies will use the technology in ways he never envisioned.

Says LeCun, “It’s not like we have a monopoly on good ideas.”

Source: http://fortune.com/2019/04/02/eye-on-ai-godfathers-deep-learning/ (Accessed on April 3, 2019)

Need for legal framework, new global norms before using robotics, AI in defence: Lieutenant General P J S Pannu

SOUNDING A note of caution on incorporating robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) in warfare, deputy chief of Integrated Defence Staff (doctrine organisation and training) Lieutenant General P J S Pannu stressed on the need of a legal framework and fresh international convention for using the twin technologies in the defence sector.

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“When you are defending your nation, the legal provisions of your country will obviously be supportive of you. But when it comes to fighting a human being, ethics will come in. What if something goes wrong with the system, which has been created by human beings?” Lt Gen Pannu said. He was speaking at the inauguration of a seminar-cum-exhibition on ‘Military Robotics and Autonomous Systems’ at the Military Institute of Technology (MILIT), Girinagar, near Pune.

The event, which seeks to commemorate the Raising Day of MILIT, is a first among a series of seminars planned on the topic of military robotics, autonomous systems and artificial intelligence (AI).

To read the full article, please visit:

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/pune-seminar-military-robotics-autonomous-systems-artificial-intelligence-defence-5651797/ (Accessed on April 1, 2019)

Is the Future Of Artificial Intelligence Tied To The Future Of Blockchain?

Introduction

Since the beginning of modern times, each industrial revolution was driven by different automation. While factory machines and fossil fuels drove the previous industrial revolutions, the on-going automation revolution is based on data-driven artificial intelligence (AI). Understanding its impact and what will be required to support the AI-driven automation revolution is a fundamental necessity.

So, as we evaluate the impact and the support needed to harness this automation revolution, it seems that at the center of this revolution is the growing need for computing power. There are indicators that raw computing power is on its way ......

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2019/03/29/is-the-future-of-artificial-intelligence-tied-to-the-future-of-blockchain/#634c98376681 (Accessed on April 1, 2019)