The Future is Al-ready

- Varsha Meghani & Harichandan Arakali

Abhinav Aggarwal fondly recounts a favourite bit of fiction about a set of scientists who built the first intelligent computer decades ago. The first question they asked the machine was: ‘Is there a God?’ The reply: ‘There is now.’ The lanky, bespectacled twenty-six-year-old flashes a toothy grin as he delivers the punch line.

It isn’t difficult to fathom why this tale tickles Abhinav’s funny bone. He is, after all, in the business of creating God-like machines as CEO of Fluid AI, a startup that draws on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to offer businesses intuitive user experiences and data analytics. Started in 2012 along with Raghav (29)—Abhinav’s elder brother who is managing director—Fluid AI wants to reshape how machines talk to humans.

The combination of recent advances in AI and related areas such as speech and image recognition, and the availability of virtually infinite amounts of computing power and storage has heralded the advent of a world in which machines will take over many human functions (see boxes).

Take the case of RBL Bank. Walk into their Nepean Sea Road branch in Mumbai and instead of being greeted by a receptionist, a smart-screen says, “Hello, welcome”, as it detects a customer using its motion sensors.