• CERTIFICATE
    • Eminent VARs of India
    • Best OEM 2023
  • SYNDICATION
    • AMD
    • DELL TECHNOLOGIES
    • HITACHI
    • LOGMEIN
    • MICROSOFT
    • RIVERBED
    • STORAGECRAFT
    • THALES
  • EVENTS
  • GO DIGITAL
  • INFOGRAPHICS
  • PRESS
    • Press Release PR News Wire
    • Press Release Business Wire
    • GlobeNewsWire
  • SPECIAL
    • WHITE PAPER
    • TECHNOMANIA
    • SME
    • SMART CITY
    • SERVICES
    • EDITOR SPEAK
    • CSR INITIATIVES
    • CHANNEL GURU
    • CHANNEL CHIEF
    • CASE STUDY
  • TECHTREND
    • VAR PANCHAYAT
    • TELECOM
    • SOFTWARE
    • POWER
    • PERIPHERALS
    • NETWORKING
    • LTE
    • CHANNEL BUZZ
    • ASK AN EXPERT
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • Apps
  • Gaming
  • KDS
  • Security
  • Telecom
  • WFH
  • Subscriber to Newsletter
  • April Issue
  • Blogs
  • Vlogs
  • Faceoff AI
    

HOME
NEWS

George Orwell, Artificial Intelligence and My Predilections!


By VARINDIA - 2019-01-21
George Orwell, Artificial Intelligence and My Predilections!

Asoke K. Laha, President & MD, Interra IT

 

It appears the whole world is looking at AI as a futuristic digital platform that can bring soccer from drudgery, human errors, subjectivity etc. no matter even if they can make mankind redundant. At least that is what many feel. Is it because the humans are more for leisure centric and less inclined to work? 

 

Students of political science would vouch that the first form of democracy originated in the Greek city states. Those city states were too small and inhabited by equally small number of people. Decisions were taken collectively ascertaining the views of everyone who could express themselves and that way neutral to gender, age and what have you. People used to assemble at an appointed place and each decision that the city state was contemplating to implement would be discussed and finally  put to vote  possibly by raising  hands or by any other methods since ballot boxes, and papers were  non - existent several years before Christ.  That system, history tells us, had worked well. Those well-tested methods of knowing the minds of the people for every development projects might have been discarded, when population of a city state would have swelled beyond manageable levels or when a neighboring state or a predator from a far flung area would have conquered the city state and disbanded the democratic system and resorted to dictatorship, where rights of the conquered were seldom respected or even heard. 

 

The other thought that influenced me for dwelling on the subject matter was about Marxian concept of “withering away of the state”. Let me make it clear that I am not going to dwell on anything politics and that way one should not think I am going to hail George Orwell’s “1984”, which explains how state would become omnipresent in a totalitarian regime. Karl Marx, the greatest thinker and revolutionary of his time, said that the state will wither away. The idea behind such line of thinking was that after a lapse of time, the control of the state will erode and people might feel that there is not much of role for a state when every need of the human beings are met.

 

I am going to dwell on how AI is going to impact politics or electoral process. Could AI be the sole arbitrator to decide for a state what to do and what should not be done?  I understand that there over 160 countries in the world and every landmass call itself as a country has a government either elected or monarchy or in the form of dictatorship. Let us look at every state from the smallest to the biggest, infant democracies to oldest and strongest democracies. One striking thing that you would find is allegations and counter allegations on how the election process was manipulated, election rigging and in some places bloody feud let loose in the aftermath of elections. In some places, elections were postponed and countermanded for one reason or other. Yet, trillions of dollars are spent for conducting elections. In places where there is a possibility of rigging there, United Nations appoint neutral observers. Yet there are increasing number of complaints about manipulations and rigging. It could be just allegations without much substance. Yet, these unsavory developments mar the civic life, not to speak about scores of people who are killed in the election related violence and billions worth property that are damaged in the process. Welfare economists are advocating secondary level of poverty in developed world, which is more relative and less in absolute sense. It is like someone losing job in the US. Of course, he or she can claim social security to cover some expenses.  

 

Assume for a while all political systems across the world are disbanded and every country has been given a central monitoring system enabled by artificial intelligence. Every person across the world is given a mobile phone with a lot of Apps embedded in it. The central monitoring system asks you to give your preference for implementation of a project. People need to click in the mobile and communicate their preference, which will be received at the central monitoring system. After elaborate data mining, the central system will take a call whether the project should be implemented or not. In this dispensation, you do not need an elected representative to voice your concern in the Parliament, assembly or any such representative body. A citizen is in direct connect with the decision maker and his vote counts for taking every decision. All those functions would   be carried out by the digital platforms which will have a central processing apparatus and connected devices such as internet connections and mobile phones. Why then should we have elected governments, which are generally perceived as a drain on resources, since every country is spending huge resources not only for conducting elections but also upkeep of elected representatives?

 

Is it a safe bet against proliferation of scams, corruptions and all those sinister activities, which many feel, at least some of the elected representatives indulge across the world?  Scams, corruptions and all those manmade machinations will become a thing of the past if AI embedded robot or an Alexi picks up best bid for construction of a bridge or a dam or a road or a highway or what have you. If the best student in a class is picked up by a robot, who can allege that selection is partisan or arbitrary. If a robotic surgeon does a surgery, who can claim that there is a doctor’s error while performing a complicated the surgery?  One can extrapolate this situation to many contexts and backgrounds to ensure transparency and fair play in the working of a system. Then the question boils down to why we are not doing it: who will bell the cat. Of course, such transparent acts and procedures may not go well with the vested interests, particularly those who have a stake in the opaque systems.

 

Do my predilections have any parallel with Orwellian narration? Is AI that I am advocating is similar to the command system that Orwell has abhorred?  To my great disappointment, I found out that the supreme power of technology that I am advocating is in a way similar to the omnipresent command economy dubbed by Orwell. In both the dispensations, human freedom is curtailed and power of ingenuity is discounted. Will that do good or bad to the mankind? I believe in technology, its power but it as an aid of human civilization and not a master to own and control it.

See What’s Next in Tech With the Fast Forward Newsletter

SECURITY
View All
Zscaler announces AI innovations to its Data Protection Platform
Technology

Zscaler announces AI innovations to its Data Protection Platform

by VARINDIA 2024-05-20
SHIELD to enhance Swiggy’s fraud prevention and detection capabilities
Technology

SHIELD to enhance Swiggy’s fraud prevention and detection capabilities

by VARINDIA 2024-05-20
Axis Communications announces its first thermometric camera designed for Zone/Division 2
Technology

Axis Communications announces its first thermometric camera designed for Zone/Division 2

by VARINDIA 2024-05-20
SOFTWARE
View All
Hitachi Vantara and Veeam announce Global Strategic Alliance
Technology

Hitachi Vantara and Veeam announce Global Strategic Alliance

by VARINDIA 2024-05-16
Adobe launches Acrobat AI Assistant for the Enterprise
Technology

Adobe launches Acrobat AI Assistant for the Enterprise

by VARINDIA 2024-05-11
Oracle Database 23ai offers the power of AI to Enterprise Data and Applications
Technology

Oracle Database 23ai offers the power of AI to Enterprise Data and Applications

by VARINDIA 2024-05-10
START - UP
View All
Data Subject Access Request is an integrated module within ID-REDACT®
Technology

Data Subject Access Request is an integrated module within ID-REDACT®

by VARINDIA 2024-04-30
SiMa.ai Secures $70M Funds from Maverick Capital
Technology

SiMa.ai Secures $70M Funds from Maverick Capital

by VARINDIA 2024-04-05
Sarvam AI collaborates with Microsoft to bring its Indic voice LLM to Azure
Technology

Sarvam AI collaborates with Microsoft to bring its Indic voice LLM to Azure

by VARINDIA 2024-02-08

Tweets From @varindiamag

Nothing to see here - yet

When they Tweet, their Tweets will show up here.

CIO - SPEAK
Automation has the potential to greatly improve efficiency and production

Automation has the potential to greatly improve efficiency and production

by VARINDIA
Various approaches are followed to enhance efficiency, productivity, and cost-effectiveness

Various approaches are followed to enhance efficiency, productivity, and cost-effectiveness

by VARINDIA
Technology can be leveraged in several ways to boost efficiency, productivity and reduce cost

Technology can be leveraged in several ways to boost efficiency, productivity and reduce cost

by VARINDIA
Start-Up and Unicorn Ecosystem
GoDaddy harnesses AI power for new domain name recommendations

GoDaddy harnesses AI power for new domain name recommendations

by VARINDIA
UAE’s du Telecom selects STL as a strategic fibre partner

UAE’s du Telecom selects STL as a strategic fibre partner

by VARINDIA
JLR and Dassault Systèmes extend partnership for All Vehicle Programs worldwide

JLR and Dassault Systèmes extend partnership for All Vehicle Programs worldwide

by VARINDIA
Rapyder partners with AWS to accelerate Generative AI led innovation

Rapyder partners with AWS to accelerate Generative AI led innovation

by VARINDIA
ManageEngine integrates its SIEM solution with Constella Intelligence

ManageEngine integrates its SIEM solution with Constella Intelligence

by VARINDIA
Elastic replaces traditional SIEM game with AI-driven security analytics

Elastic replaces traditional SIEM game with AI-driven security analytics

by VARINDIA
Infosys and ServiceNow to transform customer experiences with generative AI-powered solutions

Infosys and ServiceNow to transform customer experiences with generative AI-powered solutions

by VARINDIA
Crayon Software Experts India inaugurates its ISV Incubation Center in Kolkata

Crayon Software Experts India inaugurates its ISV Incubation Center in Kolkata

by VARINDIA
Dassault Systèmes to accelerate EV charging infrastructure development in India

Dassault Systèmes to accelerate EV charging infrastructure development in India

by VARINDIA
Tech Mahindra and Atento to deliver GenAI powered business transformation services

Tech Mahindra and Atento to deliver GenAI powered business transformation services

by VARINDIA
×

Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Kalinga Digital Media Pvt. Ltd. is prohibited.

  • Distributors & VADs
  • Industry Associations
  • Telco's in India
  • Indian Global Leaders
  • Edit Calendar
  • About Us
  • Advertise Us
  • Contact Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Statement
  • Sitemap

Copyright varindia.com @1999-2024 - All rights reserved.