Analytics Global Conference: Keynote address
Distinguished Professors, respected domain experts from the industry, and dear students; I am happy to be here to deliver the keynote address in this Analytics Global Conference 2024. Many interesting topics were discussed yesterday. Today also you have an impressive list of speakers. Some of you may be wondering what a monk of the Ramakrishna Mission is doing in this technical event. I work in Ramakrishna Mission Shilpamandira, which is a Diploma Engg College and a Skill Development Center. Right from 1919, our Institute has been imparting technical skills to people. Naturally, we keep abreast of the latest developments in the technical field. While we do not engage in research and innovation, we work to bring the latest technological innovations down to the technician level and design and deliver courses at the bottom-most tier of the skilled-workforce pyramid.
- Attitude towards new technology:
I was very happy to learn that Data Analytics now has an undergrad course in NSHM, which is the host of this Conference. Just a few year ago, this was cutting-edge field. Now it has come down to the UG level. In a couple of years, we will have Data Analytics at the Skill Development course level. That is my interest in attending this Conference.
Speaking to some students before the beginning of this session, I was very happy to see the attitude they have towards a new disruptive technology. This was not the case for a long time in our nation’s history. I was a witness to the intense agitations that followed the introduction of computers in the 1980s. Even 25 years ago, when Y2K happened, we saw a lot of resistance to adopt a new technology in our society. Our country has successfully made a transition from conservativism to modernity, which was Swami Vivekananda’s dream for this nation. When Swamiji said that his faith was in the younger generation, I guess this is what he meant. Our younger generations are adopting to new disruptive technologies very heartily.
But, we should not lose track of the path of evolution that mankind has followed. Every successive generation learns the entire gamut of human knowledge that has been discovered until the present, in a matter of 15-20 years. Our evolution has always happened like this. All the accumulated knowledge till the present is learned quickly by the present generation of youth, and they take it forward from there.
If this highly concentrated learning is not properly done, we face problems later. We use the term ‘disruptive technology’. But, there is always an organic growth of ideas. The oldest concepts of Euclid, Aristotle and Dalton are intrinsically connected to the latest concepts of Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence. So, while I am happy to see your gusto in taking to new technology, and congratulate you all on breaking through the mental inertia towards new technology, I must warn you that unless your learning is comprehensive, including all that has been discovered and used in the past, you will be on shaky ground. Every new technology is a natural growth from the old ones. You can never have something drop down from the sky.
- Issues concerning new technology
One of the most important issues in adopting a new technology is the utter ignorance we have regarding all the implications of the new technology on individuals and society. It is comparatively easy to innovate a new technology or gadget. It is almost impossible to immediately gauge the real extent of implications it brings in its wake. So, we need to proceed with caution. Take for instance the modern automobile. Today, we all know that it is one of the major agents of pollution in our world. So, we have new technologies such as Green EV to replace it. You will be surprised to know that a 150 years ago, this very fossil-fuel-driven automobile was presented to the world as ‘Green, non-polluting’ solution to modern transportation! Technology has a tendency to come full-circle in a matter of a 100-150 years!
Take Quantum Computing, for instance. This new technology is supposed to increase computing speeds by 1000 times. The areas, beneficial to mankind, where this kind of insane computing speeds are required will be very few. If only its use could be confined to that area, it would be the greatest thing that could happen to us. But we know the fate of mankind. Human beings have a perverse element hardwired into them, as it were. Someone, somewhere will start using it for destructive, diabolical ends. I remember watching the interview of a Facebook employee. He was instrumental in developing the algorithm which went on to send targeted ads to Facebook users. He said he developed it with the intention of giving people a better service from Facebook. Very soon, someone came up who started using it to manipulate public opinion! This person was heartbroken, when he learnt that people somewhere in the world had become genocidal due to this algorithm!
Just look at the problems that are right now inherent in Artificial Intelligence systems. It is inherently biased. The output any AI system gives depends entirely on what sort of data has been fed into it. Suppose there are two sides to a story, and you feed only one side of it to your AI system. It will tell you things based on only that side of the story. Just type in ‘Effects of Cannabis’ into Co-Pilot and see what comes out. The answers will have you believe that Cannabis is actually the wonder-drug that mankind has always been searching for, the elixir, or universal panacea. But, things are never so cut-&-dried in this world. Everything is nuanced. Cannabis can destroy some personalities beyond repair. There will hardly be any mention of those things! Bias is one problem that Artificial Intelligence will have the toughest time to overcome.
The main reason is – no one actually understands how AI systems process data. Of course, some programmer, or a team of programmers, has written the codes based on which these amazing systems work. But, when those lines of programming start functioning, it takes on a life of its own, and it goes beyond the ability of any person to interfere or alter the individual steps of data being handled. All AI systems suffer from this ‘Black Box Syndrome’. Even before these issues have been sorted out, we have started using AI systems in our daily life. Naturally, this is going to mess things up, big time, in the near future. I remember, when I was a student, computers were just being introduced in the workplace. People used to say then: To err is human, to forgive is divine, but to really mess up things, you need a computer!
Look at Google. It must be about 20 years old now. Today, Google Search Engine has acquired a decent level of credibility. AI systems haven’t yet reached anywhere near that level of credibility. I am a member of the Ethics Committee for Clinical Research of a well-known Hospital in Kolkata. When the Principal Investigators submit their research proposals to us, they have to include some forms such as Patient Information Form and Consent Form. The templates for these forms are in English. We ask the Researchers to give us the Bengali versions of these forms, since most of the patients they will be working on will be Bengalis. And most Researchers go to Google Translate for Bengali versions of the forms. It is horrible! Some sentences are pure garbage! Credibility issues will have to be sorted out as early as possible in these new technologies, and you will all need to work on that.
Many people have already started flagging the ethical issues with respect to AI systems. What is the root of ethics? Long ago, there lived a Confucian sage in China called Mencius. He says that the root of all ethics is in the heart of man. He called it the ‘Universal Moral Imperative’. We have always believed that morality and ethics came from religion. Why should we do things in one way and not in another way? Because our Holy Book says so, or because our Holy Prophet says so. Those days are gone. This argument will not hold good today or in the future. We need to discover the real root of morality and ethics. It is within every person. Just look at small kids when they are playing. One of them says to another, “That is wrong; what you did was wrong.” Immediately, many other boys too chime in and say, “Yes. What you did was wrong.” There is a voice within everyone which acts as the moral compass. The real role of religion should have been to strengthen this inner voice. Organized religion instead brainwashes people into believing artificial and myopic ideas, most of it aimed at perpetuating its own existence, which is unfortunate.
In India, we have the Vedanta, which is the most glorious thing that happened to mankind. Vedanta says that all of existence is actually one. But, we see that existence is infinitely differentiated. Thus, anything that unites us is moral. Anything that differentiates us is immoral. Selfishness is the root cause of all immorality. Unselfishness is God, says Swami Vivekananda.
You will all be working with these new technologies in the future. Develop the moral fiber within yourself. You will not be able to depend on anything or anyone to show you the right path. You will have to develop the ability to derive all the ethics and morality you will need from within yourself. I point this out because all these areas are still work-in-progress. If you were a civil engineer, things would have been much easier. That is an almost perfected field of work. Most of the things have already been sorted out and well documented. Not so with your area of work. As you go on working, you will come across many dilemmas. You will need a strong inner moral compass to resolve those dilemmas.
Listen to a story. It will clarify what I am trying to tell you. Sir C V Raman was once asked by the Indian Govt to set up a research lab in Bangalore. It is now a vibrant research facility called ‘Raman Research Institute’. When he was setting it up, he had advertised for some good research assistants. Sir C V Raman and his other directors conducted the interviews and went for lunch. When Raman sat down for his lunch, there was a knock on his door. When he opened it, he saw a young man there who said, “Sir, I was given my travelling allowance from the office. I saw that I was given fifty rupees extra. I went back to return it but found that the cashier had left for lunch. Here, Sir, I am returning the extra money to you.” As soon as the young man said this, Sir C V Raman said, “Wait; you need not go home right now; we have selected you.” After lunch, when the committee met again, Sir C V Raman explained that he had told the young man that he was selected. Some of the directors objected to this and said, “What need was there for such haste? There were many more young men with better knowledge that this boy!” Sir C V Raman said gravely, “That’s true. But, I can teach Physics to this man. I cannot teach honesty. And this fellow already has it! That’s why I selected him.”
I must congratulate the organisers of this Global Conference for bringing such a brilliant array of thinkers on one platform. And I wish all the students here the very best in their future. Your contribution will be valuable for the world.
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Swami Vedatitananda 