The Parikrma Festival of Science 2024

Artificial Intelligence: Tech for Good 

Hundreds of students from schools in Bengaluru, including government schools, got to decode the brave new world of artificial intelligence.

Healthcare, agriculture, online search, art, cosmos, research, climate change and more… Today, Artificial Intelligence is transforming every field and driving change. There isn’t a better time to understand the depth and scale of AI’s influence in our everyday lives than now! Parikrma Festival of Science, supporting long-time partner Synopsys, held three-day interactive learning sessions.

This year, we had over 200 students from schools in Bengaluru, including government schools, getting together for three days to hear some of the leading figures bringing innovations and change through AI, visit the NCBS (National Centre for Biological Sciences) campus for hands-on learning and participating in hackathons. Importantly, debates and panel discussions covered both sides of the story – AI: a threat or a boon?

We thank our chief guests: Dr Ramprasad Manohar, IAS, Chairman, BWSSB; Ramesh KN, State Project Director; Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan; Chandrashekar, BU, principal engineer in USB controllers; Synopsys, entrepreneur and long-term Parikrma supporter, Humanyun. 

A big shout-out to the speakers:

Understanding AI: Prof Yogesh Simmhan, IISc

AI for Traffic Management: Prof Vijay Gopal Kovvali and Prof Abdul R Pinjari, IISc

Robotics: Professor Chiranjib Bhattacharyya, IISc

AI & Google: Dr Manish Gupta, Director, India, Google Research

AI and water: Dr Anjana Rajakumar, researcher, Hitachi India

AI for Neuroscience: Dr Shaon Chakrabarti and Dr Shruthi Viswanath from NCBS. 

Making Food Computable: Dr Ganesh Bagler, IIT, Delhi

AI in Agriculture: Dr J Indu, IIT, Mumbai

AI in conservation: John K, Tejas CK and Surya M

The hackathon saw the eight teams submit their proposals for the summit, choosing if they are for or against ‘AIs replacing 50% of the teacher force at schools’.

We thank our long-term FOS sponsors Synopsys and partners for the festival, BWSSB and National Centre for Biological Sciences.