Turing Award 2019: AI Is The Key To Indian Smart Cities And The True Tribute To Alan Turing

The Turing Awards for 2019 have been announced and this time around three top innovators in the domain of Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been bestowed with the coveted honor which is also often referred to as the Nobel Prize relevant to the global technology industry. Here, the key focal point is Artificial Intelligence or simply “AI". AI has now deeply penetrated the societal scheme of things and seems to have all it takes to drive the next-gen smart cities in India.

Application of AI to society - a true tribute to AM Turning

If you are a data scientist in India, then it is a matter of undoubted faith that the gross amount of data generated in various domains should potentially yield to the creation of smart models that could, in fact, lead to solving multiple issues (both on the ground level and through developing applications). Data scientists and technologists today unequivocally believe that sector such as healthcare, retail, agriculture (the backbone of Indian economy), and the industry, in general, would be the biggest beneficiaries of AI-driven smart models.

What could be a more fitting tribute to Alan Turing, that truly employing computing and AI towards solving societal issues. In this regard, the above-mentioned sectors viz healthcare, agriculture, and more are essential elements of any Indian city and even an Indian village, and incorporating smart elements (through smart models) here would lead to the development of smart cities and smart villages.

Now, smart cities does not only imply top-notch internet connectivity; but it also means that people are empowered (mostly through digital to carry out a first line of processes at their own personal level. The best example here is that of healthcare; AI and related technology like the Internet-of-Things (IoT), Data Sciences, Machine Learning (ML), and Predictive Analytics could in fact practically lead to a scenario where people could properly identify signs of diseases/disorders and check on the appropriate levels of consultations required to be given by an expert medical practitioner. Also, concepts like healthcare technology such as smart beds, smart blood pressure monitor devices, cardiovascular monitors, and more have already been put to real-world usage in various countries of the world including India.

The key to the new-age smart technology is data and in-house development; both of which are feasible in India at this point in time. Hence, when people are empowered with adequate information about their own personal well-being, the burden of having to perform the bare levels of diagnosis naturally eases on the expert professionals resulting in them offering expert advice (and even treatment) to an increased number of people.

Smart Cities is all about the right degrees of empowerment

Another key area to address if smart cities are to be created in India through AI is agriculture. The biggest issue staring at agriculturists today is the prices for crops. Here, it is possible to have systems that dynamically generate prices of crops based on factors like climatic conditions, soil quality, water levels, and syncing with the data of the government - to generate models that offer agriculture practitioners information at every level so as to minimise physical human intervention and maximise human intelligence. Data is the key here.

With data-driven models and AI in tandem, it is possible to achieve a condition herein everybody is empowered enough through technology - outside of social media and WhatsApp, but for the societal good.

Likewise, issues could potentially be mitigated by AI-driven models; but this requires intense dedication by data scientists and technologists, and suitable governmental aid whilst dealing with encouraging people to innovate in India to build Indian smart cities - don’t you think so?

Also Read: CES 2019: Enabling Machine Intelligence Is A Focus, At The Event