Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Basic awareness (செயற்கை நுண்ணறிவு - அடிப்படை விழிப்புணர்வு )
- rajamohansub
- 4 days ago
- 8 min read
In 1955, Professor John McCarthy of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA, used the word 'Artificial Intelligence' (AI) for the first time in his proposal 'Summer research project on Artificial Intelligence'. Over the years, AI has evolved into a defining technology by the invent of Super computers (IBM's Deep Blue - 1997) and the Deep Learning Revolution in 2012 (ImageNet) and after 70 years, now, AI has become the buzz word on every body's lips.
Prof. John McCarthy
The advent of powerful computers and the machine learning techniques, the collection of large data sets and the technology break through in deep learning culminated in the debut of 'transformer architecture' around early 2020s This architecture was used to produce 'generative AI' models.
In the 2022 -23, large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Gemini and DeepSeek were released which revolutionized the learning process and the AI industry.
My curiosity about AI, began after reading the book ' Digital Transformation : Survive and Thrive in an Era of mass extinction' by Thomas M Siebel (CEO C3.ai) donated by my son a few years ago. Further interest in AI guided me to adopt ChatGPT during its early days itself and also to attend one international and two national online seminars to deepen my AI awareness and understanding.
The main aim of this blog is to create awareness of AI and AI ecosystem among readers and not to make them AI literate.
What is AI ?
Few common questions that many of us may ponder over -
Is AI a monster that would eliminate our children's and/or our grand children's employment in the near future or will it help boost the employment in the market ?.
What is the social, psychological and ethical impact on individuals and on society ?
Will there be any role of human intervention/supervision required in the future ?
We, as a society, always be suspicious of any new development/changes (rightly so) that disrupts our life, be it, the introduction of computer/internet in the work places and/or in schools & colleges. As it turned out to be, the introduction of computers/internet has become a boon to the whole society albeit with some social disruptions.
A definition for AI goes like this: ' the ability of a digital computer or computer controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings'. (Encyclopedia Britannica) .
Today all existing AI is considered weak AI and the strong AI which possess human like intelligence, with ability to think, reason and learn does not exist as shown in the chart below.
The humongous nature of the AI industry / market can be understood by the mere size of it, conservative estimate projected it to be around $ 1 trillion by 2030.
Software, Models and Techniques of AI :
AI is emerging fast, so are the tools (software, models and techniques) used to generate AI systems/products. Some of the popular tools (not exhaustive) are listed here to increase the reader's awareness. Proficiency in one or more tools may help the reader to become AI literate
Software : Python, R, Julia, TensorFlow (ML), PyTorch (ML), JAX (ML)
Large Language Models (LLMs) : GPT, LLaMA, Claude , Mistral, DeepSeek
Techniques : Transformer architecture, deep learning, reinforcement learning, transfer learning
3.Benefits and risks :
A. Benefits:
Cognitive amplification, enhancement of cognitive capabilities through technology is what AI has done to the humans. In view of that, productivity, innovation, accessibility, learning and decision making has been accelerated in almost every field.
In the field of economic growth and productivity, by automating repetitive jobs, optimization of logistics, AI could add $15.7 trillion dollars to global economy by 2030 as per one PwC report.
Early disease detection, personalized treatment and predictive Public Health analytics are some of the likely benefits in the Health & Public Health sectors
AI tutors, translation in regional languages and adaptive learning are some of the key benefits in education.
By scaling AI applications in Environment & climate sectors has a potential to mitigate about 10% of green gas emission says BCG report, November 2023.
Scientific research using AI tools enhances the probability of discovering new materials, genetic mapping and accelerated simulations
B. Risks:
All the benefits of AI listed above, come with some associated risks.
Loss of jobs or jobs displacements is real . We have seen the latest announcement of reduction of jobs in major global and Indian corporations (Amazon: 14,000 jobs, Meta : 8000 jobs and in India TCS : 3.2% of its work force) due to the deployment AI .
Disinformation and Deepfakes are really a menace and is being faced by everyone in day to day life, nowadays. AI generated disinformation could exceed human created misinformation by 2026, a report suggests. Synthetic content in news threatens democracy and truth, a major challenge to be tackled .
https://2024.jou.ufl.edu/page/ai-and-misinformation - University of Florida
Bias and discrimination in AI system is mainly due to the use of biased algorithms and the AI machines trained in biased large data. This may lead to societal discrimination in critical areas like employment, lending and criminal justice.
AI systems uses large amount of data, including private information, health data and house hold economic data , biometric data with out getting consent from the concerned individuals or firms for training and decision making, and this amounts to breach of data and privacy.
AI systems are power hungry and it consumes high amount of energy for storage and training their models which contributes large green house gas emissions. Also, disposal of hardware poses environmental hazards
Security and ethical risks are the other risks involved with AI
Regulations:
As every one is aware, by now, that AI systems are two edged swords, promoting innovation and at the same time having inherent societal risks. So. governments world wide are treading cautiously to regulate and control the AI industry. There is no common approach and every country is having their own regulations, ethical guidelines and Acts to reduce the societal impact.
In 2010s AI power has been unleashed and so UNESCO deliberated with its member states and established the first global standard (The recommendations on the ethics of Artificial Intelligence, November 2021) on the ethics of AI, applicable to all its members. Earlier in 2019, The Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued OECD AI principles
India has released on 5th November 2025 its ' India AI Governance Guidelines' - Enabling safe and trusted AI innovation'. It emphasizes that ' AI Governance framework should be human- centric. That means AI systems should be designed and deployed in ways that empower individuals and reflect the value system of the people for whom the technology is built to serve'. The document also includes an overview of all the existing Acts and guidelines around the world. India also has 'The information Technology - Intermediary guidelines and digital media Ethics Code 2021'.
Tamil Nadu has 'Safe & ethical Artificial Intelligence policy 2020'.
Similarly US has' AI bill of rights 2023' and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) "AI risk management frame work'. All other countries like China, UK and Europe have their own regulatory acts/guidance
But will all these Acts and/or guidance encourage AI actors to follow ethical codes in their design?. While writing this, the famous Tamil song penned by the Pattukottai Kalyana Sundaram came to my mind. That goes like this ' திருடனாய் பார்த்து திருந்தாவிட்டால், திருட்டை ஒழிக்க முடியாது' i.e. if the thief himself doesn't reform, theft cannot be eliminated'.
https://humancompatible.ai/ - Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence
5. Misinformation and disasters caused by AI :
For a common man, AI is supposed to be intelligent, but all is not well for some of the AI adopted systems and products. Of the many disasters recorded, a sample of them are listed below;
In a major disaster in 2018, an Uber self driving test car fatally knocked down a woman crossing the road with her bicycle in Arizona, USA
A factory worker in a pepper sorting plant in South Korea, in November 2023,was crushed to death by an industrial robot faultily recognized him as a box of peppers it was handling.
A facial recognition technology flaws led to the wrongful arrest of a man in Detroit in 2020.
An AI generated fake preliminary accident/crash report of Air India flight 171 (Ahmedabad to London Gatwick) crash in June 2025 was circulated in social media causing more distress to the already grieving pilot families.
6.Where India stands in the AI race :
Since AI industry is still in the formative stage, there is no single authoritative source that publishes consolidated or universally accepted data for every country . However, several reputed research and market intelligence firms - such as Statista, PwC and Grand View Research - released indicative projections.
As of 2025, the global AI market size is estimated to be around $250 billion and the Indian AI industry accounts for approximately $5 billion. Though this share is modest at present, but the Indian AI sector is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate ( CAGR) of 43.8% reaching an estimated $45 billion in 2031( Statista ) . By that period the global AI market is projected to expand to around $1 trillion .
Globally it is going to be a hot race between China and the US for the leadership position in AI in the coming years. Both US and China are projected to have around 30% of the market share with the US maintaining a slight edge over China. Germany and Japan's share would be around 4% , whereas India's share may reach around 2-3% '
Therefore, India has a challenge in hand to catch up with the front runners of AI. With the release of the latest policy frame work and the policy emphasis of AI for All , India aims to attract global investors, promote indigenous Start-Ups ,establish AI infrastructure and integrate AI education across sectors to achieve a respectable share in the AI ecosystem.
7. Suggested books on AI
For those of you, who are inspired after reading this blog, here are some resources suggested to make you aware and also to deepen your understanding of AI.
For Beginners:
Artificial Intelligence for Dummies (3rd edition) by Luca Massaron, John Mueller - 20 November 2024
Artificial Intelligence Basics : A non technical introduction by Tom Taulli
Python: Beginner's guide to artificial Intelligence by Dennis Rothman, Mathew Lamons, Rahul Kumar.
For advanced learners:
See the link below, it suggests many books and other resources
Conclusion:
AI industry is in its formative stage of development and has the potential to grow into a transformative sector of the global economy in future. AI promises to generate high end employment, accelerate innovation and stimulate economic development across all nations. However, this progress will come with inevitable disruptions - job displacements, algorithmic bias, ethical dilemmas and privacy concerns.
But recently there is talk of the town based on some analysts warning about a possible 'AI bubble' citing enormous investment in AI infrastructure that may not yield proportionate returns . This resulted in volatility in AI related stocks such as Nvidia , AMD and Palantir.
In response ,countries worldwide are racing to codify guidelines and governance frameworks to ensure a 'human- first' approach to AI development.
Will they succeed, only time will tell. As always an optimist, i would believe, change is inevitable and the AI technological change/challenge also will bring good to humanity, notwithstanding what the pessimists are advocating .
Well written article. Well illustrated that AI is another tool like computer and internet and this will have larger impact in our society. Any tool can be used for good or bad purpose starting from knife. It is not that farmers only should change to new techniques in changing world. Even computer engineers should adapt to changes. Your effort to write on contemporary subjects is well appreciated.
Rajendran