If AI Could... a Fantasy

 If AI could hire people, train them, and do all the paperwork, we wouldn't need H.R.

If AI could manage creatives, media, and brand strategy, we wouldn't need Brand Managers.

If AI could handle distribution and other operations, we would not need other Sales Managers.

If AI could manufacture for us, we wouldn't need Production managers/workers.

If AI could do accounting and budgets, we wouldn't need Finance Managers

If AI could invest for people or organisations, we wouldn't need investment advisers.

And if AI could play Golf, we wouldn't need CEOs.

Some Easy ways to Evaluate Learning in AI Age

 We talk about AI as if it's a villain. But plagiarism has been around long before AI happened. So what does a professor do now, to make out what's original learning from a student in his class?

There are many ways, I would think.  Some of these could be

-a Viva or oral test instead of an assignment which if it is take home, will almost certainly involve the use of AI.

-argumentative questions which require some justification of a stand taken on a controversial subject/situation, even in a case study

-ask for original stuff that AI cannot produce. 

-ask students to write something in class- not just in an exam, but regularly. If the class is large, it could be a group assignment.

-assign an AI analysis exercise where they get info from AI and then critique it for what it leaves out, or what students can add to it. Can be done in class.

Innovation in pedagogy/evaluation is always possible, to check a student's learning. 

FICCI Conference in Hyderabad

 Pics from the event about AI in Education- held at Park Hotel, Hyderabad. Education in the AI world was the theme. Some interesting perspectives were presented among others, by MUralidharan, founder of TMI, an IIMA alum. (not in pics)

Generic Conclusions and Predictions

 The world was supposed to have ended, in 2012 according to one.

That doesn't stop people from making wild predictions, about anything and everything. Most predictions fall flat, including those about the weather. Because there are so many variables accounting for an effect, and it's impossible to measure many of those. 

Plus, unforeseen events like Corona, or lesser catastrophes happen more often than we acknowledge.

Right now, there's a spate of armchair forecasts about what AI will do to the world at large. Of course, other doomsday forecasters are not quiet either. 

My response to all these know-alls is standard- How Do You know? Period.

Webinar by Rabbitt AI

 I was invited to be on a panel in a webinar hosted by this company yesterday. It was about AI in Higher Education, and it was a great experience in many ways. We were a mix of teachers, practitioners turned profs., and administrators.

We talked of AI in curriculum, the process of teaching-learning, and the upsides and downsides of AI. It was good to see that Bangalore and Kalburgi/Gulbarga taking the lead in some practices in teaching AI as a part of their curricula, or inviting guests to teach the latest.

Pune, Gurugram, Kolkata, and the South were represented, in an all India panel. I recommended a book, and talked about Flipped Classrooms aided by AI, among other things. Faculty training too..

Anopheles and AI

 I was meeting Anopheles, my winged friend, after a long time. For some reason, her visits to my house had dwindled. Maybe she had found food closer to her own place. 

Anyway, I said hello, and asked her how she'd been. 

'Well, not bad, I'd say. And you?' she replied.

I said our whole world has been upended by this thing called AI. 

'What's that?' she was curious.

"It's like God," I told her. "It's omnipresent, and omnipotent. "

"What on earth does that mean?" she asked, quizzically, arching her eyebrows (in my imagination).

I said, 'Wherever you go, AI follows. You go to a seminar, it's about AI. The news, ditto. You can't turn a page (or scroll one) without AI hitting you in the face, it seems.'

"But what is it, exactly?" she was more mystified than before.

"That I am not so sure about," I was honest. "But I know it's pervasive. Apparently, we humans are about to replace our natural stupidity with this intelligence, which knows everything and can do anything better than we can."

"Well, it doesn't have a lot of competition, I'm afraid. Look at Donald Trump. Even an average mosquito can beat him. You don't need AI to do that." she said drily.

"Forget Trump. What I am most afraid of is that it'll start writing my blog, and telling me what to reply if you ask me a question. What will happen to my grey cells? Will they go into cold storage?"

"You seem pretty proud of your grey cells. Tell me, what's the solution to hunger, in your world, or mine - the mosquito world, I mean.

"A blood bath, for your world," I joked.

"And yours?" she persisted.

"Importing American corn, under threat from Trump, I suppose. " I replied.

Reflecting on that, she bade goodbye, and promised to come and visit more frequently.

My Youtube Foray - Chat Masala

 Trying out something new, thanks to persuasion from Sheetal Garg, a friend, and Prarthana, my daughter no. 1. A series of 10-15 minute videos on a variety of topics. Some guest episodes and some my own. Three have been published so far, and some guest episodes too, with Bhagyalakshmi Venkatesh, covering her views on Happiness and with Sheetal Garg, about music and friendship. Also one with Anjali Paruvu, about education in the Humanities. Mine are related to Hindi films, actors and domestic travel. More will follow. Shot and edited by Prarthana, with help from Pooja, daughter no. 2.

The links to existing episodes, in case you want to watch them.. a playlist.

https://youtu.be/1Ey5BlUQI7k - Episode 1- Hindi Films

https://youtu.be/x4drlX8nQh8  - Episode 2. Favourite heroes from Films

https://youtu.be/wNwMxUqIW9M  - the guest episode on Happiness

https://youtu.be/qQLyLUyzllw -Travel destinations in India

https://youtu.be/DhHVQvrFUS4  - Guest episode on Humanities and AI.

https://youtu.be/LoEq7-S2NpY   - Guest episode on Music and Friendship

Sustainable Humour

 It's all about sustainability, if it's not AI talk. So, here are some tips to sustain you through the next chapter of your life-

Bread is not as sustainable as cake. Marie Antoinette was right, you should eat cake if you don't have bread.

Chocolate is for winters, as it does not melt. Try ice apple in summers. 

Jokes about bosses make your stay in the organisation less sustainable- they have informers. Wait until you have left the organisation to crack them. 

War with Pakistan is sustainable - for us. Not for them. We just have more people.

A Ph.D. makes you immune to delayed gratification in all spheres of life. Try it!

Acting is temporary. Reality is permanent. Be real. (sorry, lifted from something equally inane said by cricket commentators- Form is temporary, class is permanent?- whatever that means)

AI ML IOT and All the Rest

 Jargon has a way of perpetuating itself, and going viral. One year ago, many of us wouldn't have heard of ChatGPT, only GST. Now, everyone uses it in conversation as if it's been around for 20 years. It's besides the point whether anyone has actually used it.

Earlier, life was simple. People were only experts in a few things. Now, all of a sudden, you see experts (mostly self-certified), giving us gyan about everything under the Sun, Moon and the Milky Way. They sprout faster than sprouted lentils, and are, like the almighty, everywhere. God may not be happy with the comparison, but...

If you want to become an expert, all you need is a social media account. You can spout eloquent on any topic under the sky (Sun, Moon included), and you will have a few people acknowledging you as the Master (of the subject, or the Universe as the case may be).

Then you just bask in all that attention, and come back with renewed vigour, putting the Yohanis to shade. Dhinchak Pooja did that for a while, too, but the experts remain. They cannot be erased so easily from the ether.

Artificial Governance- A Satire

Why we need a politician to govern us is beyond me.

Bureaucrats can run the show with the help of AI. All you have to do is load the AI machines with all the important functions of the functionaries.

Online auctions can be performed after every election to find out who wants to change parties at what price-that takes care of government formation.

Digital signatures can also be used to clear any files, and regular attendance can be changed to optional in any office. Imagine the reduction in vehicular pollution levels, and the savings in petrol.

Social media can be used to conduct a referendum on all important ideas- if only Britain had asked me for consultancy, they'd have been saved an election, and lots of confusion- and Pounds (or Euros).

If AI has gone for maintenance, it can be called a Chai break/Lunch break- an indefinite one.You get the drift, I am sure.. you are intelligent, naturally.

Why Teaching Videos Don't Work

Well, theoretically, they could. Even before AI came along, teachers should have been replaced by videos shot with similar content. So why has that not happened?

For one, they are (usually) boring. The are like canned food. Cooking live is so much more than the content, right? It's the process..or freshness, if you like.

The video remains the same, whenever you play it. But no two classes on the same subject by the same teacher are the same. There is spontaneity, new things happen either because of the teacher, or because of the students.

Peer learning is missing, and so is the social nature of a real classroom. These are not trivial, they add value to learning. We are not computers, who can be fed "learning". We also have to enjoy what happens while we learn.

Smart Cities- A Seminar at Reva

I was part of an interesting seminar at Reva University last week. Smart Cities was the theme. Some pics from the event and the venue. The university is a private university in Bangalore. It has some unique architecture, a staircase that is floating, or rather supported from the top rather than the base.

 Some nice exteriors too. Below, with my ex-colleague Shinu Abhi, who works there and is a Corporate Trainer for New Age programs in AI, Analytics, Cybersecurity, Deep Learning etc.

Rain Fury

This year, it has spread to unusual places- almost the whole state of Kerala, Kodagu in Karnataka, and a few places in Gujarat.

Makes me wonder if there are any long term measures that one can take to prevent such devastation in case of heavy rains, and maybe also preserve the rainwater for use in lean times. Of course, emergency rescue in the short run needs a lot of improvement too. I do remember seeing some reports of cyclones on the east coast- Orissa, or Andhra Pradesh being handled relatively well sometime ago.

Governments would do well, both at the Centre and the states prone to such disasters (now we know many states are), to think about such measures in advance. For example, can release of water from dams that are likely to overflow be timed better so that it does not cause floods?

That is what progress is for. Otherwise, all talk of mundane applications of AI, IoT, Analytics,  and all that is just talk.

Deloitted

Just went and attended on behalf of IIM Indore, an event called the Deans' Summit organised very well by Deloitte. It was a multi-media sensory experience (can't help it, I teach/taught Services Marketing, so bear with me).

A dancing (OK, waving) robot on screen with a voice (over) would introduce each session's speaker, and see her/him off, and in one session, we actually met a robot who walked on to the stage and even spoke contextually.

The sessions addressed issues like Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Cyber-everything including cyber-security, and many more current buzzwords like Big Data, Predictive Analytics and other kinds of it. Interspersed with examples from their consulting practice, it was a good mix of jargon and real application. One of the great attractions was speakers from social spheres-and sports. The founder of Teach for India, for example, was a passionate communicator, who spoke about transforming lives through education, and opportunity. Every kid deserves one! True that.

And of course, there was a fun evening too, with activities like cooking and karaoke-music and food go together, right?

Well done, from conception to execution. You are not a run-of-the-mill consultant, that's for sure!