Student projects show how to use AI for good

A robot that combats littering. A programme that analyses the posture of office workers. A device that allows people with speech disabilities to communicate by moving their eyes. An app that offers personalized virtual training plans to budding sports stars.

These were just some of the extraordinary projects on display at the AI Future Leaders Summit in Bengaluru last week, where hundreds of school students and educators from across India gathered for the first edition of the India AI Youth Awards.

The Summit, held at DPS Bangalore North on 5 April, was organized by the non-governmental organization 1M1B (1 Million for 1 Billion), in collaboration with IBM.

Participants at the Summit discussed how artificial intelligence can be deployed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and awards were given out to the best projects conceived by students.

Darrin Farrant, Director of the United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan, congratulated the students at the Summit for their innovative projects. He stressed how important it was for AI to have safeguards and for humanity to use it for good.

The Summit also served as a special briefing in support of the UN’s Summit of the Future, which will be held at UN Headquarters in New York this September. The Summit of the Future will help chart a road map for the international community to deal with its biggest challenges, including the use of artificial intelligence, in the decades ahead.

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