'We must embrace technology with a human touch'

Awantipora, Oct 30: Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar said that while preparing for the future and embracing a tech-driven world is essential, nurturing a humanistic approach is equally imperative.

Recognising India’s remarkable strides in technology acknowledged globally, and its frugal engineering marvels, Bhatnagar’s words resonate as a call to harmonize innovation with compassion, ensuring a brighter, more humane future for all.

Bhatnagar addressed the two-day International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Intelligent Systems (ICAIMLIS) at the Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) here.

 The conference is jointly organised by IUST’s Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIED), and the Watson Crick Centre for Molecular Medicine, in collaboration with the Soft Computing Research Society (SCRS), and supported by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (DST GOI), J&K Science, Technology and Innovation Council (JKSTIC), and the Higher Education Department of Jammu and Kashmir.

In his address, Advisor Bhatnagar said that while it is important to be future ready and future-driven in the use and application of technology it is equally important to be humanistic. He said that our country is making great strides in technology which is globally recognized and frugal engineering marvels accomplished by the nation are remarkable.

The Advisor highlighted that a futuristic mindset holds the key to progress and prosperity of the country. He appreciated the growth of IUST in academics’ research and innovation and assured full support from the government.

In his address, Vice Chancellor IUST, Prof. Shakil Ahmed Romshoo, said that the two-day conference aims to facilitate exchange of ideas and explore the possibilities of harnessing cutting-edge technologies of AI/ Ml and Intelligent systems for the upliftment and progress of humankind. He also said that scientists also have to be mindful of the ethical concerns which are associated with such new and disruptive technologies. He said that it is important to translate research into actionable outcomes that have relevance to societal problems.

He also said that the field of computational intelligence is pursued as a priority area of research at IUST.

Dean Research and convenor of the conference, Prof. A. H. Moon highlighted about the Artificial Intelligence-Machine Learning infrastructure at IUST. He expressed gratitude for the support and research grants from the Government. He said that IUST is better placed in the science and technology fields and is working in active collaborations with other institutions.

Dr Asif Assad, Coordinator of Centre for AI welcomed the guest and Dr Muzaffar Rasool from Department of Computer Science presented vote of thanks. The inaugural function was moderated by Dr Monisa Qadri.