World Book Fair 2023: The 31st edition of New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF) began from 25 February, 2023 and will culminate on 5 March 2023. The NDBWF has picked ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ as its theme. Publishers from 35 counties across the world have set up over 800 stalls to showcase the best of world’s science, literature and culture.
Best-selling Indian-American author Rajiv Malhotra also presented his book ‘The Power of Future Machines’ on Saturday, 4 March at NDWBF. Kunwar Shekhar Vijendra, chancellor of Shobhit Deemed University, was also present on the occasion.
Rajeev Malhotra talks about ‘The Power of Future Machines‘
In a conversation with DNP India, Rajiv Malhotra opened up about his book ‘The Power of Future Machines’ which was presented at the NDWBF. The book is a sequel to author’s book titled ‘Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Power’ which was published in 2021. The book talked about the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the effect it has on various domains. While it may come across as a technical read, ‘Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Power’ talked about five battle grounds for AI, including its social, political and economical implications.
‘The Power of Future Machines’ is a collection of essays by experts exploring the future impact of Artificial Intelligence (Al) in various fields of human endeavor. Experts from various fields (military, geopolitics, strategic affairs, physics, policy and others) have described how the AI and future machines would impact their respective field. “This is a book which covers broad range of topics on the effect of AI,” Mr Malhotra told us. When asked about what new does the sequel bring to the table, the scholar said, “This is a book written by not me, but other people. Other people are reflecting their views, while the previous was one was just my authorism. Experts from various domains are taking the AI in their respective domain and are writing about it.”
‘AI is the future’
Talking about the inspiration behind the book, he said, “AI is my domain and more than 50 years ago, I came to the US for my Bachelors in Computer Science and my topic was Artificial Intelligence (AI). It was very basic and rudimentary back then.”
Mr Malhotra further told that he has made a shift to history, culture and philosophy for the past several decades, but he hasn’t lost touch with machines and technology. He feels that the future of everything depends on Artificial Intelligence. So, he is brining his good old experience back for the readers for a better understanding of AI in current spectrum.
He also said that there is a need for India to spend more in the future, i.e., AI. India is only looking for short term; the government, academics and industrialists don’t invest in R&D, Mr Malhotra said. Indians are just doing jugaad, he said, adding, it is living on old glory, praying something magical will happen. “It doesn’t matter how much elections we win, how many G-20 countries visit us. The future of everything will depend on research and development,” he quipped.
Indian students in abroad
Mr Rajiv Malhotra said that Indians are being hired by foreign companies for their development, but India has failed in securing its own brains. The foreign countries are now filing patents for work done by Indians, he said. “We are just renting out our brains and it’s a stupid thing to do,” the author said.
Mr Rajiv Malhotra also talked about Indian students studying abroad. He said while Chinese students go for STEM, Indians go abroad to study ‘what’s wrong with India?’ “They are learning Indian history, culture and about minorities from western world which is a very stupid thing to do,” he said, adding, “We are giving them too much power over us and to decide who we are”.
“The study of India is being done by the west. The study of China is being done by the Chinese. That’s the difference,” he emphasised. There’s no policy from the government to guide the students, he further added.
Talking about his future projects, Mr Malhotra said that he has 20 books unfinished. He shared that the research work is complete on various different fields. “I have many things coming up,” Mr Rajiv said.
Keep watching our YouTube Channel ‘DNP INDIA’. Also, please subscribe and follow us on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, and TWITTER
