In a world where artificial intelligence (AI) meets human intelligence, a lot can transpire and impact our lives. This is exactly what Bengaluru-based Gaurav Vaz, co-founder of podcast company All Things Small, aims to document in the recently begun podcast series Paradigm Shift on Spotify. Hosted by renowned cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle, the podcast captures the use of AI in India across different sectors, including education, healthcare, weather, language, agriculture and wildlife.
Bhogle, who dabbled with science and technology in his previous podcast Mission ISRO, feels science has always been in the air for him. Talking about how science was an integral part of his life, Bhogle says: “I grew up in an environment where science was respected. My father was a chemistry teacher and I grew up on a university campus so there were a lot of discussions about science around me. And I love the history and the thought process that goes behind innovation. I would definitely love to do a podcast about scientific inventions and the great people behind those inventions.”
Crop loss due to inaccurate weather predictions, an individual facing criminal proceedings with very little knowledge over language, diagnosis of health disorders, – the podcast gives insights on eight such fascinating scenarios to show how AI can be a game-changer in different fields in India.
“We are mostly conditioned to witness how AI works in the West in the form of self-driving cars or a robot serving meals. Paradigm Shift is based on true stories of how the absence of AI has impacted the livelihoods of many in our society and how we can use AI in enhancing the quality of life. From language translations to detecting early cancer risk, the podcast shows how AI mitigates risks through advanced and accurate predictions,” says Vaz.
Bhogle also believes that the real unsung heroes of India and their works are missing in the public eye. “In the showbiz driven world, a lot of great things done by great people go unrecognised in the mainstream and social media. After reading inspiring stories of Mission ISRO and Paradigm Shift, I believe the real heroes are our defense personnel, innovators, scientists and farmers. These stories are moving and it reaffirms to me that great work is done by simple people,” he says.
Commenting on whether AI could replace humans in the future, Bhogle says: “Although I am no expert on AI, I think it is allowing us to find correlation that what we didn’t know existed. We usually dealt science with hypotheses followed by experiments. However AI is showing us things far beyond what we know and we don’t need to start with an hypothesis but find a correlation between big data and technology. All I know is, I am just a narrator of these stories at the end of the day.”
