CNN Central News & Network-ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: A one-day workshop on “Indian Knowledge Tradition and Artificial Intelligence: From Knowledge to Innovation” was organised at Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open University.
Sunil Jain, State Informatics Officer, National Informatics Centre, Madhya Pradesh, attended the workshop as the keynote speaker. The programme was chaired by Professor Milind Dandekar, Vice-Chancellor of Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open University. On the occasion, Professor Maya Ingle of Devi Ahilya University’s Computer Science department, Aniruddh Nagaich, Shilpa Bhalerao and Vandana Kante attended as subject experts and delivered lectures on various topics. Teachers, students and staff of Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open University and other colleges were also present.
In his address, keynote speaker Sunil Jain said the use of artificial intelligence in the Indian knowledge system has been very limited. He particularly emphasised that only what is scientific and has a solid reason will endure. He said only 20 to 30 percent of our knowledge wealth has been documented. He stressed that there is a scientific reason behind our traditions and customs, and the fact that these customs have continued for such a long time means there must certainly be some scientific basis behind them.
Jain said innovation is useful for us only when it can easily reach the common people. Such innovations should be eco-friendly and within the reach of the general public. He said the heritage of Indian knowledge must first be documented, and digitisation of these documents is necessary. After this, it should be converted into a machine language model. Such a model will help solve the problems of common people. He said a great deal of work is being done these days in the field of the Indian knowledge tradition. He added that artificial intelligence is only a tool and it is our duty to use it properly. He said we are currently using only about 30 percent of the capacity of artificial intelligence.
Chairing the programme, Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open University Vice-Chancellor Milind Dandekar said artificial intelligence should be used for the benefit of the public and technology should be used for welfare-oriented purposes. He said the Indian knowledge tradition is a continuous process. In this context, referring to Dharampal’s research, he said Dharampal had studied in detail the education system that existed before the arrival of the British. Dandekar also shed light on the scientific and mathematical aspects of Indian astrology. He said whatever use we make of artificial intelligence should prove useful for the common people. Human creativity should not be diminished in technological innovation. New technology should be used for the welfare of the people without obstructing human creativity and spiritual reflection. The vote of thanks was proposed by Arun Singh Chauhan, Registrar of Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open University.
In the technical session of the programme, Maya Ingle of Devi Ahilya University delivered a lecture on “Knowledge, Learning and Contemporary Relevance” in the context of the Indian knowledge tradition and artificial intelligence. She said India’s philosophies are among the richest philosophies in the world. Our spirituality teaches the art of living. She highlighted the culture of greeting in the Indian knowledge tradition, the Indian joint family, various Indian dance forms, Indian festivals, Indian temples and their architecture, India’s different religious traditions, Indian food and its scientific aspects, Indian attire, Indian art, types of Indian art forms, Indian languages and scripts, and Indian literature.
In the same sequence, Anugrah Nagaich delivered a lecture on the use of artificial intelligence in the preservation, discovery and distribution of Indian knowledge. He explained how the Government of India is working to prepare databases of Indian languages, dialects and related material. He said that 74 lakh old documents have been preserved and digitised under the Gyan Bharat Mission.
In the second technical session, subject expert Dr Shilpa Bhalerao presented her views on the Indian knowledge system and artificial intelligence in relation to language and its logic. She said our results depend on the quality of our data. For the Indian knowledge system, we will have to create as much data as possible. She also introduced various types of software and tools related to artificial intelligence.
In the same session, Vandana Kante taught participants how to carry out image editing, create videos and prepare text prompts through different types of tools. At the end of the workshop, workshop coordinator Professor Pragya Shukla, Director of the IT Department at Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open University, presented the workshop summary. On the occasion, Vibha Mishra, Director of the Printing and Distribution Department, distributed certificates to the participants. The programme was conducted by Nidhi Rawal Gautam, Senior Adviser at Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open University, while the technical session was conducted by Shivangi Dubey.
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