Letters to the EDITOR: AI tools are reducing human-centric jobs

AI tools are reducing human-centric jobs

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of our lives. AI tools are significantly faster than humans in vari-ous tasks due to their ability to rapidly process and analyse large amounts of data. For example, if a human has to translate 1,000 sentences from English to Spanish, it can take a human being 5-10 hours (depending on the expertise of the translator), but doing the same thing by AI takes 1-10 seconds. This shift has made jobs across industries less human-centric. Similarly, robots and automated systems now control assembly, welding, and quality checks in factories. For example, Tesla uses robots to man-ufacture cars, increasing efficiency and cutting costs. Using robots results in less labour required for repetitive tasks. We all know that humans make mis-takes, but robots make many fewer mis-takes and produce faster. Another ex-ample of this is Amazon. Chatbots like the one used by Amazon answer cus-tomers’ routine questions 24/7 using natural language processing, which is not facilitated by a human. Despite all the advantages of using AI, this system is also going to present us with many disadvantages. As AI takes over routine and repetitive tasks, there are fewer and fewer job opportunities for humans. AI systems are vulnerable to cyberattacks, which can compromise sensitive data and disrupt critical infrastructure. AI-powered systems can collect and store huge amounts of personal data, which can be vulnerable to data breaches. Humans may lose creative thinking and problem-solving skills as they become too dependent on AI. As AI makes things less human-centric, from the factory floor to the data desk, by fusing human talent with AI, we need to create a future where both thrive.

Himadri Dutta,

Gauhati University

Sorry state of affairs

During the time of British rule, undivided Bengal was formed with present-day West Bengal and Bangladesh. After indepen-dence, it was divided into West Bengal and East Pakistan. After 1970, East Pakistan be-came present-day Bangladesh. Since then, India has had a very cordial relationship with Bangladesh, even though the illegal in-filtration of Bangladeshi nationals into India continued unabated, posing grave problems to NE India. Assam and West Bengal are the worst victims in this regard.

With TMC coming to power in West Bengal under Mamata Banerjee, very alarmingly, the TMC government decided to offer a red carpet to illegal infiltrators to act as a vote bank for her party. Since then, West Bengal has become a safe haven for Bangladeshi nationals who have started terrorising the locals before and after the election, forcing the bona fide Indians to flee to neighbouring states seeking refuge. A district, namely 24 Paragans, has become a mini-Bangladesh where the criminals from across the border are having a field day in committing anti-national activities.

‘WHAT BENGAL THINKS TODAY, IN-DIA THINKS TOMORROW” is no longer applicable. I pity the electors of West Ben-gal.

Dr Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati

Digital parenting and children’s well-being

The recent one-day first national-level conclave ‘Infantia’, hosted by Assam Police on children’s rights on the inter-net, is not only laudable but also a most timely initiative to remind the role of par-ents, schools and society towards creat-ing a safer and more inclusive digital world for children. The conclave brought together voices from across sectors to discuss how the internet is reshaping childhood and how the nation must re-spond with urgency, empathy and vision. In his keynote address, Director General of Police, Assam, Harmeet Singh, underscored the need to harness many benefits of the internet while ensuring that its perils do not affect our children; this must be appreciated. The editorial ‘Digital Parenting’, published in your esteemed daily on 8 April, has rightly highlighted the draft rules of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, proposing that children below 18 years of age will now need verifiable parental consent to open social media accounts. It is a significant step, but mere parental consent is not enough. Parents need to constantly guide their children to safely navigate the internet to acquire knowledge and information to benefit from it. The alarming rise in addiction to online gaming and fantasy sports among children across the country is a matter of serious concern for the parents who need to wake up to the challenges of digital safety and learn the basics of digital parenting. What is most important is to build trust-based communication between parents and teachers on one hand and children on the other, and that ensures security for the children without intruding in their lives. Teachers role in keeping an eye on falling grades and social behaviour of the students cannot be overstated. At the same time, the growing culture of oversharing needs to be checked to protect children’s digital dignity. It is the collective responsibility of each member of the society to raise awareness about digital parenting for children’s digital well-being. There is a need for more compassionate, proactive, child-rights-driven law enforcement at the heart of digital parenting for creating a safe, nurturing space for children amidst the pressures of internet culture. Ensuring the digital safety of children while facilitating digital access is the need of the hour to protect them from all harms that may be committed against them online.

Iqbal Saikia,

Guwahati