We are in a new age. Today I can ask a chatbot, ChatGPT or Claude or Gemini or Copilot, to write (or speak) about this or any other subject on my behalf. I can ask for my writing to be translated and illustrated, to include videos and music, to be published on social media and much more. My cellphone knows who I am and where I am. GPS is my guide, and I am a photographer and video producer. I pay my bills and deposit my cheques online. The cloud is ready and waiting to receive all my personal works, which are labelled and catalogued and presented to me as memories. I have instant and constant communication with family, friends and associates anywhere. My smartwatch tracks my activity and my health and sends alerts if I fall.
There are many voices in a global conversation about what tomorrow will bring and how we manage the changes at hand. Many of those who have worked in AI for all of their careers are amazed by the speed and the scale of change. There are also a few who speculate extravagantly on the future. My adventures in digital technology span three generations of my family. I was around when computers shrunk from mainframe to mini to micro, when computers started communicating with each other and the internet and the World Wide Web were born, and when we moved into the age of satellites that manage our Wifi networks. While staying on top of what today’s AI can (and cannot) do, we need to consider how we develop technology to serve the interests of humanity as a whole.
For those who develop AI systems, resources are physical. Computing power needs to continue speeding up and scaling up. Data centres need land, people and natural resources to be built and energy and water to run. AI systems depend on science, engineering, people and data for training before they come into use. Much of today’s research is around developing systems that can train themselves, and there is also research around doing more with less computer usage. For general AI users, resources are the options available. LLMs, video generators, self-driving taxis, companions, advisors, and an increasing number of agents offering to write emails for you. For countries and for corporations, there is competition for physical resources to create, produce, and distribute AI systems. At the other end of the AI supply chain, there is competition for users.
At the same time, without collaboration and partnerships that enabled technical standards for Information Technology and communications, AI would be impossible. It was my good fortune during the 1980’s to have a leadership role in introducing Computer Science in UK schools and to fellow teachers. One of my partners was Professor (F.R.A) Bob Hopgood, who was head of Informatics at Rutherford Appleton Labs, a pioneer in the development of computer graphics, and leader in getting agreement for international IT standards via the ISO (the International Organisation for Standardisation). He was also the driving force behind European support for and collaboration in emerging digital technologies. The scientists working in the UK’s research establishments and universities recognised the importance of the new technology and its possibilities and were also eager to see it included in education for coming generations.
I am deeply optimistic but not naive about the possibilities and opportunities. There are already many targeted applications, such as DeepMind’s AlphaFold, that are creating new science. There are also community projects to preserve traditional languages and cultures. There are also challenges around AI hallucinations and deepfakes, weaponry and surveillance. Living up to Prime Minister Modi’s visions around “people, planet, progress, welfare and, happiness for all,” needs us to continue to explore. Who are the decision makers in AI? How much decision making power is concentrated in a few CEOs? What are the values underlying the decisions? Is the priority a competition against poverty and disease? What can we do to make everyday lives and our workplaces safer? How do we ensure that users are included in the design of systems? If we delegate to an AI agent, what are the trade-offs? How can we use AI to reduce risks? Do we assess economic growth based on stock markets or on wage packets? How do we foster creativity and innovation? How do we teach entrepreneurship as a core discipline? What are the measures of success for social good? What are we choosing to measure and how do we analyse the data?
There is wide agreement amongst leadership that we are in the early days of AI with much, much more to come. Together with the large AI summits and conferences, investment in, valuation of, competition between and collaboration amongst countries and corporations continues to grow rapidly. The global order is changing. Workplaces are changing. Each of us is born into the technology of our time, and into our own place on the planet. We all share a basic need to feel confident and in control of our lives, and that means having trust in others, in our institutions and in society.
While there has been a great deal of attention on AI developments in the US and China, with the newly implemented trade agreements, Bharat’s role as a central player in international technology development and use will expand rapidly. People are and will always be the foundation of societies, and Bharat’s deep intellectual and cultural heritage and position as the world’s largest democracy is deeply reassuring.
