Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Kannada

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the hot topics in the news right now because it will soon either enhance or disrupt all of our lives. Last November 1st, we all celebrated Kannada Rajyotsava and throughout the month of November Pratinidhi newspaper is publishing Kannada related topics, and they asked me to write an article. So I will try to briefly explain in this article, what is this artificial intelligence, its disadvantages/advantages, how it is helping to enhance the development, propagation and usage of our Kannada language.
Knowing that dogs, dolphins, chimpanzees and other animals have intelligence and learning power, man trained them for his amusement or to make his work easier. Then he created machines with his intellectual power and made them do the work that animals could not do or could do better or cheaper. After creating computers, humans gave them artificial intelligence. In the last few years, artificial intelligence in computers has grown to the level of human intelligence, the pace of development, extent and disadvantages/advantages of this artificial intelligence have been discussed intensely. In simple terms – Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be called an invention that can do or make a machine/program do a job that can be done physically or intellectually by a human through technology-based devices. For example, calculators, computers, robots, etc. Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is a type of artificial intelligence, which has human cognitive abilities in a wide range of cognitive tasks and if it exceeds human cognitive abilities, it is called Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI). The happy or sad thing here is that according to many experts, that time is coming in a few years. American computer scientist John McCarthy first used the term AI (Artificial Intelligence) in 1956. Later developments led to AI technology spreading throughout the world across various devices we use.
The concern here is that robots with artificial intelligence will overtake humans in all fields such as education, medicine, science, commerce, military, and service and will take away the current jobs of many in those fields. The main reason for this is that robots work day and night all year round without asking for salary, without taking leave, without complaining, without making mistakes, and their performance and efficiency are increasing day by day. Another concern is that if they are not controlled by humans, they may one day lead to the destruction of the human race like the English movie Terminator. I have previously discussed how cybercriminals use artificial intelligence (ChatGPT, DeepFake and Voice cloning) to commit cybercrimes. But it will also bring many benefits to mankind, such as better free/low cost education for all, creation of new drugs and treatments in the medical field, less traffic and accidents due to autonomous vehicles etc. It may take away hundreds of existing jobs from humans, but it will also create hundreds of new jobs. For example, the electronic synthesizer did not destroy music, nor did photography destroy painting, but rather enhanced new art forms. Thus, a new type of art may emerge through artificial intelligence.

Contribution of Artificial Intelligence to the development, dissemination and use of Kannada language :-

• Application of AI in Education : With the help of artificial intelligence, every student can learn all the subjects in their mother tongue Kannada sitting at home according to their learning speed, ability and interest with the help of real-time Kannada translation by skilled teachers anywhere in the world, all at once.
• Use of AI in Tourism : Tourists coming to Karnataka and Kannadigas going on a trip to other places from Karnataka can easily interact with locals using an app or tool that translates voice and signboards in real-time with the help of artificial intelligence.
• Use of AI in Kannada art/media : With the help of artificial intelligence, we can watch movies of any language in the world in Kannada, as well as other people watch Kannada movies in any corner of the world in their language. This can pave the way for new types of films, music, drama and literature or increase its quality and diversity.
• AI impact on Kannada dialect/style : Mysore Kannada is different from Dharwad Kannada and has its own unique style, similarly there are many styles/dialects of Kannada and it is loved by the locals there. With the help of artificial intelligence, we can display the voice and literature in the local Kannada style to the locals there and they can interact in their style helping in preservation of that local style/dialect.
• Use of Kannada in government administration : Artificial intelligence can help Kannada speakers to interact with the state and central government in Kannada. Kannadigas can give all competitive exams in Kannada with the help of artificial intelligence.
• Kannada in general business : The complaint that bank and private company employees who face customers do not interact in Kannada can be overcome with the help of an AI real-time language translation app or tool.

The above are some of the ideas that have come to my attention on how artificial intelligence can help facilitate the development, dissemination and use of Kannada language. Some of these are already in use and the rest of the technologies may get created soon.