AI gets demystified for teens at Leaders on Campus

Bengaluru: In a crowded hall of 17-year-olds, Gaurav Agarwal, vice-president, products and analytics, Simplilearn, patiently explained artificial intelligence in a tone that resonated with the teenagers. Gaurav spoke of generating captions on Instagram, recommendation engines of OTT platforms like Netflix, and how Amazon astutely displays the merchandise you discussed with your friend as the students tried to grasp the magic behind AI.
"AI is industry agnostic, AI is for everyone," the IIM-Rohtak alumnus said at the Times of India's third edition of Leaders on Campus at The Great Eastern PU College, Herohalli. Hosted by the Taproot Group of Colleges, the event saw 500 students from six colleges attending the event Wednesday morning.
Gaurav listed several technical and non-technical roles that are growing in demand in the industry. This ranged from AI/ML engineer, natural language processing specialist, computer vision engineer to non-technical roles like AI policy analyst, AI solutions consultant, AI communication specialists, and functional domain roles, including customer service, human resources and marketing. "The skills required are evolving very fast. Once you hit the corporate world, three to five years from now, there will be very different tools and technology. But the underlying fact is that you should be curious to learn those technologies," he said.
"You should start with what is available today, say, Python or Java. Java is there for the last 40 years and Python evolved in the last 15 years. These things will remain there. So if you are really curious to build your career in AI, these are the technical skills that you should learn," he advised.
Gaurav advised students to start small on learning AI, understanding its impact on day-to-day life. "There are a lot of free platforms available, including Simplilearn Skillup. Listen to podcasts, read blogs, articles, but just start small. Newspapers, be it Times of India or Economic Times, have dedicated sections on AI nowadays. Start reading about what's happening and that will also build a lot of context and confidence to grow your career in AI," he concluded.
Quote:
Vaibhav Kumar Singhal, business head, Taproot Group of Institutions
"Such interactions help students get a better perspective. They will understand what is happening in the world. AI is one thing which everyone is fascinated about. A lot of job opportunities will come in and it is important for students to know about it."
Q&A
Gaurav Agarwal, vice-president, Products and Analytics, Simplilearn, fielded an array questions from students and staff at the Leaders on Campus. Excerpts:
Q: Is AI making the students dumb or is it helping them to learn better?
Gaurav: When any technology comes, there are two sides to it. It is for that individual to decide how they can make the best use of it. AI is not just about doing your homework. I'll say a concept is taught in the class, but you have not fully understood it. AI can help you further break down a larger concept into small parts and make you understand that.
Q: Will AI result in job losses?
Gaurav: There will be a few jobs that AI will definitely make redundant. But at the same time, there will be a lot of new career opportunities that will come. So overall, will AI increase the job pool? I don't know. Many studies say that once AI gets more mature, it will add a lot of value to people's lives, which means people will become more productive, economies will grow faster, and that's when more jobs get created.
BOX:
Winners of the Leaders of Campus thematic quiz on AI
Name: Institute
Dhanush Narayanaswamy: Dr T Thimmaiah Institute of Technology
Arya R: PES University
Rakshita Daniel: Christ University
Karthikeyan M: Pragathi PU College
Kavya: RV College
Danitha Dinesh: East West Institute of Technology
Ritheshwar R: Pragathi PU College
Manu Kumar R: Pragathi PU College
Sonu Kumar: Mangalore Independent PU College