Intelligence Refined

Vijay C Roy in Chandigarh

Activists use AI to reach you

Vijay C Roy in Chandigarh 

A plausible reason why you should care about Artificial Intelligence (AI) is simple: it is centred on you. Its transformative impact is revolutionizing industries as diverse as healthcare, banking & finance, e-commerce, agriculture and manufacturing. It has the potential to profoundly affect our lives, work, and entertainment. And, it has prompted activists to persuade people into a protest-mode. Like, what Dr Deelip Mhaske, a senior executive fellow at Harvard Kennedy School (Boston, US), did to generate awareness during Bharat bandh on April 2. 

The shutdown was called to protest the alleged dilution in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in an ongoing case in the Supreme Court. “The bandh was a people’s movement. We protested in the US, too,” says Mhaske in an email interview. “We also supported anti-corruption and other movements in India. This should be seen as a patriotic NRI supporting the cause of democracy.”

Mhaske is an Indian citizen settled in the US for a decade. He says he has worked with US government agencies. He is trained in identifying problems and implementing practical solutions using data-driven management strategies. He says AI, the Geographic Information System and big data were deployed to make the bandh a success. 

His network consists mainly of alumni from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, IITians, Harvard and Tata Institute of Social Sciences. “The other activists are the social networking groups all over the world from all communities. One of our objectives is to eliminate caste system by 2030.” 

“We belong to all religions and castes. I am a born Buddhist, but I hardly had any time to follow Buddhism. I don’t identify myself as Dalit outside India but as an Indian. The Dalit identity comes when we raise questions about marginalized communities all over India,” he said. He strongly denies hiring professionals or purchasing any software to reach out to the activists in India. This is how he went about: Mhaske says there are 100 constituencies identified by the Congress and the BJP to target Dalits voters. “If you are good in numbers, you can obtain the analyses online.” 

He says his team’s report on the Bharat bandh social media impact said most of the social media was highly trafficked in those 100 constituencies where Dalits atrocities are higher than in other parts of the country. “The bandh was completely beyond current political leadership,” he said. “The report is based on government records as well open source information like population.” 

A Chandigarh-based technology expert says based on large-scale data mining and elaborate models using AI techniques, one could plan many applications of the data. “It could be influencing polls and orchestrating strikes. The interesting thing is many off-the-shelf tools and libraries are available to do the technical heavy-lifting for you.” The tech expert, who does not want to be identified, says anybody can develop a ‘heat map’ across the country to pinpoint the constituencies where one should focus to maximize the impact on potentially persuadable people. “There is a lot of data about people up for grabs. India is creating unstructured data at a very rapid pace and has datasets in volume that only a few countries possess,” says a data analyst.

The AI quotient

• Artificial Intelligence is a branch of computer sciences that stresses creation of machines working and reacting like humans. It is the science of trying to make computers think and act like humans 
• Is AI about simulating human intelligence? Sometimes. Man can learn about how to make machines, solve problems by observing people. On the other hand, most work in AI involves studying the problems the world presents 
• Google Now helps you find info when you ask for it using your voice. You can say ‘Where’s the nearest restaurant?’ The assistant responds by finding info, relaying it from your phone, or sending commands to other apps
• AI is important in several apps, as they collect info on your requests and use that info to better recognize your speech and serve you results tailored to your preferences. 
• Large retailers stand to make a lot of money if they can anticipate your needs