Platform: Zoom (Register for a link) | Language: English (with simultaneous translation to Hindi for Panel IV)
A unique collaboration between the School of Arts and Sciences at Ahmedabad University and the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI) at Cambridge University.
Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence (AI) vary across cultural contexts. Narratives, ranging from fiction to non-fiction, play a crucial role in forming ideas and sometimes public policy. Following successful international workshops, the GAIN project at CFI is collaborating with the School of Arts and Sciences at Ahmedabad to understand the history and dissemination of AI narratives in India. The workshop aims to connect scholars, technologists, and artists for collaborative rethinking of the impact of AI in India, South Asia, and globally.
The panels feature:
For speaker bios and details of the organising committee, please Click Here
INTRODUCTIONS (16:30-16:45 IST / 11:00-11:15 GMT)
Welcome to the workshop
Patrick French, Dean of School of Arts and Sciences at Ahmedabad University
Welcome to the workshop
Huw Price, emeritus Bertrand Russell Professor of Philosophy, Cambridge University
Introduction to Ahmedabad University and AI in India
Pankaj Chandra, Vice Chancellor, Ahmedabad University
What is CFI and the Global AI Narratives Project
Kanta Dihal, Senior Research Fellow, Project Lead on Global Narratives, Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, University of Cambridge.
PANEL I - AI in Indian Science Fiction and Imagination (16:45-18:15 IST / 11:15-12:45 GMT)
Discussion Questions:
Moderator: Kanta Dihal
Speaker 1: Samit Basu, Author of Gameworld Trilogy
Speaker 2: Divya B, Author of Machinehood (pre-recorded conversation)
Speaker 3: Tanuj Solanki, Author of The Machine is Learning
BREAK (18:15-18:30 IST / 12:45-13:00 GMT) (15min)
PANEL II - History and Philosophy of AI in India (18:15-19:45 IST / 13:00-14:30 GMT)
Discussion Questions:
Moderator: Stephen Cave, Executive Director of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence
Speaker 1: Arun Sukumar, PhD Candidate, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Speaker 2: Noopur Raval, Postdoctoral Researcher, AINow Institute, New York University
Speaker 3: Daud Ali, Associate Professor, South Asian Studies Department, University of Pennsylvania
CLOSING REMARKS (19:45-19:50)
Patrick French
SUMMARY & INTRODUCTIONS (16:30-16:35 IST / 11:00-11:05 GMT)
Kanta Dihal
PANEL III - Conceptual Perspectives on UIDAI and Aadhaar (16:35-18:05 IST / 11:05-12:35 GMT )
Discussion Questions
Moderator: Patrick French, Dean of School of Arts and Sciences
Speaker 1: Srikanth Nadhamuni, CEO, Khosla Labs
Speaker 2: Chinmayi Arun, resident fellow of the Information Society Project, Yale Law School
Speaker 3: Ram Sewak Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority; former Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
BREAK (18:05-18:20 IST / 12:35-12:50 GMT) (15min)
PANEL IV - Roundtable - Responses to AI and Science Fact-Fiction in Hindi, Bengali, and Malayalam Literature (18:20-19:50 IST / 12:50-14:20 GMT)
Discussion Questions
This Panel will have simultaneous translation to Hindi.
Moderator: Tejaswini Niranjana, Department Head, Department of Cultural Studies, Lingnan University, Hong Kong; Visiting Professor, Ahmedabad University
Speaker 1: Manoj Kumar Pandey, Author of Badalta Hua Desh: Swarndesh Ki Lok Kathayen
Speaker 2: Shiju Sam Varughese, Assistant professor, Centre for Studies in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy in the School of Social Sciences, Central University of Gujarat
Speaker 3: Samrat Sengupta, Assistant Professor and Head of the Department of English at Sammilani Mahavidyalaya under University of Calcutta
CONCLUDING REMARKS (19:50-19:55 IST / 14:20-14:25 GMT)
Kanta Dihal and Patrick French