Ananya Mukherjee, Vice-Chancellor of Shiv Nadar University, Delhi-NCR, said in Manipal on Friday that “deriving the maximum benefit for maximum people from AI is a social mission all must embrace”.
She was delivering the 33rd convocation address of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) in Manipal on day one of the five-day convocation.
The convocation in Manipal will continue on November 22 and November 23. It will be held on the MAHE campus in Bengaluru for two days from November 29. As many as 8,450 candidates will receive their degrees during five days.
Asking graduating students to lead the social mission, she said, “…Bring your hearts, minds, souls, spirit, and intellectual prowess all together. Ensure that AI’s extraordinary power serves the maximum benefit of the maximum number of people.”
Stressing the importance of human judgment, Ms. Mukherjee said, “…The prevailing narratives often position AI as either savior or destroyer, replacement or threat. Both extremes miss the power of collaboration. Most importantly, never delegate your judgment. Leverage all of the powers of AI and computational techniques to inform decisions, not make them. Do not let go but reserve moral choices for human wisdom.”
By 2026, the electricity consumption of data centers is expected to approach 1,050 terawatt-hours (making it close to power consumption of entire countries like Japan). This is only one impact of Gen AI, she said.
“But on the other hand, the time to drug discovery may be shortened dramatically, more and more people may have access to personalized medicine, and the benefit of education may spread to people in in unimaginable ways,” the Vice-Chancellor said.
On day one, 1,648 students received their degrees, including 64 PhD awardees, while four students were honored with the Dr. T.M.A. Pai Gold Medal.
Vasanti Pai, trustee, MAHE Trust, and Ramesh Prabhu, Superintendent of Post Offices, Udupi Division, jointly released the first-day postal cover to mark the 90th birthday of Ramdas M. Pai, Chancellor, MAHE.
H. S. Ballal, Pro-Chancellor and Lt. Gen. M. D. Venkatesh, Vice-Chancellor, MAHE were present.