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By:

Prasad Dixit

11 October 2024 at 1:09:23 am

The Human Advantage in an Artificial Age

As artificial intelligence grows smarter and more efficient, the real battle may not be about machines surpassing humanity but about whether humans squander the qualities that still set them apart. With the recent news of a Chinese robot beating the human record in a half- marathon, there is renewed debate on how AI could outsmart human beings. Many experts see it as yet another proof of impending disaster as AI takes over most of the jobs in the years to come. This is not the first time when...

The Human Advantage in an Artificial Age

As artificial intelligence grows smarter and more efficient, the real battle may not be about machines surpassing humanity but about whether humans squander the qualities that still set them apart. With the recent news of a Chinese robot beating the human record in a half- marathon, there is renewed debate on how AI could outsmart human beings. Many experts see it as yet another proof of impending disaster as AI takes over most of the jobs in the years to come. This is not the first time when human civilization is facing a technological revolution that has the potential to impact society and economy in a profound manner. There is, however, a crucial difference with AI driven revolution that is often missed out. The first industrial revolution happened because steam engines were invented and it led to mechanization of production. It was followed by discovery of electrical energy and technologies to harness it for mass production. Next wave of evolution was led by computerization and automation in practically all the fields covering both offices and industrial shop floors through mainframes, personal computers, and programmable logic controllers. While all these leaps in technologies are very different in terms of the specific underlying inventions, they all have one thing in common. They were all invented to do things that were humanly impossible to do. One steam engine or electric motor could do the work that perhaps hundreds of humans would never be able to accomplish even with their collective muscle power. Automation of the manufacturing assembly line would deliver speed and accuracy that human beings would never be able to achieve. Beyond Human Technological advances in Telecommunication, for that matter, have simply expanded the range of 'hearing' and 'seeing' far beyond what human vocal chords, ears, and eyes could manage to do on their own. Computers, at its core, are essentially doing the math and calculations at a speed and accuracy that the human brain can never achieve. To add to that, machines using all these innovations in technology would work tirelessly without any fatigue for a duration that human beings would never be able to match. Although AI is yet another highly potent technological innovation, it is not as straightforward as the previous ones. It can absorb and synthesize huge amounts of data that the human brain perhaps cannot do. Ability of AI to answer any question reasonably well using all the global knowledge made available to it, summarize enormous amount of data and text quickly, quickly draw a complex picture based on instructions given verbally, predict a trend, recognize and highlight a specific face in a fraction of a second from millions of faces, write code based on simple English instructions, are all examples where the speed and accuracy of underlying computation is delivering what human being cannot match. However, there are several areas where human beings are trying to improve AI so that it can, some day, match or exceed capability that human beings themselves already have. Examples of this include the ability of AI to completely replace a human driver safely in all situations, understand full context or an intent behind a statement, carry out complex and well-coordinated mechanical activity in response to various unpredictable situations, react appropriately by correctly assessing the emotions at play, integrate generated code appropriately in the existing larger systems landscape, and so on. In such cases, AI is not exhibiting any capability that is humanly impossible to match. On the contrary, AI is trying to catch up with what humans can do easily. In other words, in these areas, AI is trying to become what humans already are. This very aspect separates AI driven technology revolution from all the previous ones. Direct Competition It is often said that AI and humans will co-exist in the future, and people will need to change their ways of working. It is obvious that AI is also going to directly compete with humans in many sectors. Equipment with an embedded chip on-board do compete with humans even today. A case in point is household equipment such as ‘intelligent’ washing machines and dish-washers where robots to do vacuum cleaning and floor mopping do compete with humans offering these services. A human household help can perform these activities far better than what a machine can do. However, given an affordable choice, an increasing number of households prefer machines over human maid services for a reason. Human household help may not always be punctual, sincere, honest, and reliable. But machines are. Uncontrolled emotions, anger, frustration, laziness, indiscipline, absenteeism do affect humans - but not AI driven machines (at least till the time AI itself acquires emotions of its own, and becomes self-aware some day). This aspect of comparison between AI and humans is likely to become far more prominent and consequential as AI driven machines and robots become more and more intelligent and thereby start competing far more effectively with human capability in many spheres. Competition is said to bring about improvement. Just as AI improves itself through continuous learning to mimic human behaviour and actions, human workforce also needs to improve itself by avoiding behavioural issues and inefficiencies referred to above. Otherwise, humans would lose the natural advantage that they still enjoy over AI, and which is likely to continue even in the foreseeable future. Employers or consumers in the labour-intensive service sector will accept AI driven machines and robots with all its known limitations if it turns out to be a better net-net deal in comparison to services offered by humans. This specific aspect has tremendous significance for India. Many Countries from the developed world do not have a young population with reasonably good IQ in required numbers. India, on the other hand, has it in abundance. One could compare it with abundant availability of Thorium or Sunlight in India as compared to the Western world. Consequently, unlike many Countries in the world that have a Uranium centric approach towards nuclear energy, India's approach needs to be centered around Thorium. India's strategy related to renewable, non-conventional, green energy needs to be based on solar power. Indian Context Strategies for adopting AI in the Indian context need to be similarly tailored for the Indian context. India needs to adopt AI in the areas where it clearly has an advantage over humans in terms of speed, throughput, ease of use, accuracy, and efficiency. However, the use of AI needs to be judiciously controlled in areas where AI is trying to catch up with the capabilities of the human mind and body. Several labour-intensive services such as drivers, caregivers for the elderly people, parcel delivery, security guards, maintenance and repair of various equipment, are all examples in that category. Educational policies and overall work culture in the Country needs to appreciate this reality. Just as AI experts are trying hard to 'teach' AI algorithms and improve them through supervised learning, another set of experts need to sensitize and teach humans on how to understand, appreciate, preserve, and further hone the significant natural advantage that they already have over AI. Despite all the technological breakthroughs in AI, in many areas, still, it is a battle that humans will lose only if they choose to. (The writer works in the Information Technology sector. Views personal.)

Forests for Sale

A raging fight over 400 acres of scrub forest reveals the Congress-led Telangana government’s conflicted vision for Hyderabad’s future.

Telangana
Telangana

On the western fringes of Hyderabad, an unassuming patch of green in the fast-expanding Financial District has become the site of a tense standoff. Kancha Gachibowli, a 400-acre urban forest adjoining the University of Hyderabad (UoH), is rich in biodiversity, rocky outcrops and controversy. As the Congress-led Telangana government pushes to auction the land to private developers in a bid to bolster its IT economy, students, faculty and civil society have rallied to protect what they call the city’s “last lung space.” While the state sees real estate gold, Hyderabad’s citizens see ecological heritage.


The government claims that transforming this forested tract into an IT park could net up to Rs. 50,000 crore in investments and create half a million jobs. Already, the Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation has drawn up plans, promising to preserve landmark rock formations like the ‘Mushroom Rock’ as green pockets amid glass-and-concrete towers.


But the resistance is equally firm. The land, though never officially notified as a forest, forms part of the larger ecological envelope of the UoH campus. It is home to myriad species of birds, reptiles and mammals. Environmentalists and academics argue that losing this space would deal a fatal blow to Hyderabad’s fragile urban ecology. Urban forests such as Kancha Gachibowli regulate microclimates, sequester carbon and offer respite in a city where heatwaves and water scarcity are fast becoming the norm.


The matter has now escalated to the Supreme Court, which has directed a halt to all deforestation and development activities, and ordered a central empowered committee to inspect the site. The state’s refusal to allow UoH faculty and students to conduct an independent ecological damage assessment before the central team’s visit has only deepened mistrust. The ministers involved argue they are bound by the court’s directives. Protestors see it as yet another attempt to suppress scrutiny.


Adding to the friction is the heavy police presence on campus, with prohibitory orders in place and cases filed against protestors. Two students remain in custody. Far from defusing the situation, the Congress government has adopted the coercive playbook of its predecessors: criminalise dissent, delay dialogue, and hide behind procedure.


The irony is thick. This is the same Congress party that, in opposition, castigated the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government for its opaque land deals and lopsided development. Now in power, it appears to have inherited not just the furniture but also the worst instincts of its forerunners.


When the University of Hyderabad was established in 1974, it was allocated 2,300 acres. Over the years, successive governments have chipped away at that parcel - first for a telephone exchange, then a bus depot, a sports stadium, and even an IIT campus. The 400 acres at Kancha Gachibowli were handed over to a private sports firm in 2003, reclaimed in 2006 after non-utilisation, and have been in legal limbo since. The Supreme Court has reaffirmed the state government’s ownership, but the lack of proper demarcation and the absence of forest notification has left the land in a legal and ecological grey zone.


The Telangana government would do well to consider a more nuanced approach. Rather than treating the 400 acres as dead capital, it could embrace a vision of inclusive urban planning that balances economic ambitions with ecological imperatives. Designating Kancha Gachibowli as a protected urban forest, opening it up for educational and ecological tourism, and integrating it into the broader developmental plan of the city could offer a compromise that respects both growth and green.


In the battle for Kancha Gachibowli, the stakes go beyond Hyderabad’s skyline. They touch upon how India’s cities imagine their future - whether as concrete jungles chasing capital, or as liveable spaces that cherish their natural inheritance. Politically, the episode is fast turning into a litmus test for the Congress government. If it squanders public trust for short-term real estate windfalls, it will only hasten its own political erosion.

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