The Good, Bad And Ugly FACES OF AI

It is imperative for technologists and users to be aware of both the positive and negative impacts of a technology to mitigate the risks that accompany every advancement.

- JANANI G. VIKRAM

The effect of AI is more far-reaching than any technology we have seen in recent times—every development in AI seems to come with varying degrees of social, political, economic, and environmental impact. On the positive side, we see AI helping with health care, agricultural management, education in remote regions, access to knowledge in the vernacular, drug discovery, weather modelling, increased efficiency in organisations, and much more. On the negative side, AI is being used to scam and dupe people, spread misinformation, hack into systems, monitor people illegally, and so on. We also see job roles vanishing, companies downsizing.

As Spider Man's Uncle Ben keeps reminding him, “With great power comes great responsibility!” AI has the power to improve this world in unprecedented ways, but only if the makers and users of AI technologies and tools remain constantly aware of the potential risks and fix the loopholes before they can be misused. To keep reminding ourselves and our readers of this fine balance, we shall now pause for a moment, look around, and spot something good, bad, and ugly about AI, an exercise that we like to do every once in a while.

Good: Lots of it could be seen at the India AI Impact Summit

AI's potential to improve people's lives was clearly palpable at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi in February 2026. More notably, the event showcased AI's ability to inclusively help everyone, not just urban, tech-savvy folks, quickly chalking up points in favour of AI!

In India, one of the main challenges to inclusivity is the country's language diversity. If AI were available only in English, it would never reach those who need it most. With solutions to this, Sarvam AI turned out to be a breakout star at the summit, impressing a great number of the attendees, including our Prime Minister!