Former ISRO chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said here on Thursday that Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies were being harnessed to influence human behaviour for profiteering.
Speaking at the 14th Akhila Karnataka Vignana Sammelana, Mr. Kiran Kumar said the advertisements that prop up on ones mobile or computers are based on the communication pattern and the information is synthesised through AI and ML and relevant advertisements are targeted at individuals.
But the current developments have also resulted in manufacture of healthcare devices that helps monitor the heart rate, sugar, BP in real-time basis to enable doctors to evaluate the health conditions of individuals, Mr. Kiran Kumar added.
The renowned space scientist said raw materials were shipped out of India to fuel industrial revolution in the west and the finished product was sold for a profit in India. A similar situation exists in the present times as companies harness human intellectual capital as raw material for a profit, he opined.
Mr. Kiran Kumar said while there are benefits accruing through the development of Science and Technology, mankind was being increasingly confronted with the downside of the misuse of such technologies. He cited the development of war machinery worldwide harnessing the developments in science and technology as a case in point. Though the evolution of nuclear science and technology could be used to harness energy, its application is more in the manufacture of weapons of destruction and this was of the innate human nature to dominate over others.
For human civilization to last and for a sustainable future, solutions have to be conceived to resolve issues impacting mankind such as climate change, plastic and its negative impact on environment etc., said Mr. Kiran Kumar.
He said though weather forecast had been standardised to a large extent in earlier times through computer modelling and simulation, it was becoming difficult in present times due to increase in the number of variable factors because of the effect of climate change. Referring to developments in the field of science, the former ISRO chairman said earlier nation-States used to fund space research. But in the present times private enterprises were involved in it and were promoting space tourism etc.
The conference is being jointly conducted by Karnataka State Department of Science and Technology, Karnataka Science and Technology Promotion Society (KSTePS), Mysuru District Administration, Mysuru Zilla Panchayat (ZP), University of Mysore (UoM), and Karnataka State Open University (KSOU).
The focus of the conference is Sustainable Development and Science and Technology and there will be a slew of discussions and brain storming sessions on issues related to science and society. The objective of the conference is to provide a platform for discussion on new developments in science and communicate them to the public to infuse scientific temper and kindle interest in science and technology.
G. Hemantha Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, University of Mysore, said under its outreach programme science was being propagated through Kannada in schools. D. Thimmaiah, MLC, said that despite the progress made in science and technology, the scourge of caste has not been eliminated from society. Girish B. Kadlewad, president, KSVP, and others were present.
