Advaitham, Aviyal and Artificial Intelligence

Recently, I had the opportunity to deliver a keynote speech titled 'AI Strategies for Enterprise Success' at the MeitY-Nasscom event in Bengaluru. I had about 8-10 minutes to present, and I tried my best to do justice to that. However, I missed out on a few things during my speech and hence thought of sharing an extended version.?

When NASSCOM invited me to speak, I was unsure of what I could offer beyond the expertise of other speakers, who were far more knowledgeable and experienced in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). However, I realized that the event's focus was on discussing strategies for AI success in enterprises, and I decided to link AI to two areas of personal interest where strategies do not always work, but a sequence of steps, when consistently followed, leads to improvement.?

One was Cooking – which I started some years back during the rare occasions at home amidst frequent travels for work and the other was Advaitha Vedanta - a branch of Indian philosophy, which I started learning in my quest towards a systematic inquiry into the nature of our self and the world around us. I decided to combine these elements into my keynote. Aptly titled as 'Advaitham, Aviyal, and Artificial Intelligence', I emphasized that understanding complex subjects begins with asking fundamental questions. I drew inspiration from a quote by my favorite writer, author, and teacher Jeyamohan, who stated that "fundamental questions seek to explain the underlying philosophies of life." I then cited two real-life stories from the lives of Advaitha Gurus 'Nataraja Guru' and 'Nithya Chaitanya Yeti', who were introduced to me by Jeyamohan.?

The first story highlights the importance of being open to inputs from various sources in building a solid AI system that offers a high degree of accuracy. Nithya Chaitanya Yeti was once engaged in a deep philosophical conversation while walking in the garden. As he passed the ashram's kitchen, he paused for a moment, saying that the tea would taste bad because the person making tea had added sugar to the water ahead of time. He deduced this based on the smell coming from the kitchen chimney as he walked. The guru's senses were always receptive to the tastes of the world. Training an AI model demands the ability to recognize the appropriate inputs and sources that can improve the accuracy of the model.?

The second story revolves around Nataraja Guru teaching his student Nithya Chaitanya Yeti the importance of performing simple tasks that lead to an understanding of complex subjects. He did so by posing a simple question to Yeti. As Yeti came from a wealthy family, he had never had to perform any household chores. Nataraja Guru asked him to prepare Aviyal (a thick stew-type dish popular in Kerala/Tamil Nadu), and Yeti responded that he had never cooked at home. He joined Nataraja Guru as a disciple to learn Advaitha Vedanta, not to prepare Aviyal. Nataraja Guru responded “How can one learn Advaitha if one does not know how to make a good Aviyal?”? ? These two stories have influenced my approach to personal and professional endeavors.

I have been improving my Aviyal-making skills for the past three years by following steps to enhance its quality. My focus on small tasks, such as preparing Aviyal, also guides my exploration of complex subjects, such as Advaitha Vedanta and artificial intelligence. With over 266,112 man-hours of experience building AI systems at Zuci, I have realized that 'Great things are done by a series of small things brought together'. In my opinion, comprehending a vast subject like AI begins by revisiting the fundamentals and emphasizing the importance of focusing on the smaller elements first, such as Data Quantity, Data Quality, and Data Integrity.?

Reports say 87% of corporates claim AI is a top priority for their business, yet 80% of AI projects fail, and this throws light on the critical issue at hand – neglecting the fundamentals.