Honoured to be invited to their Annual Conference in Kolkata on September 10th by ACAE President Vivek Agarwal through my good friend, the suave Dr Suman Mukerjee, to lead the proposition in an interesting debate – “In the Opinion of this house, Artificial intelligence will make this world more humane, not less!”
Felt like sharing the gist of my submissions in defense but first a word on the Conference itself. Set in the old-world charm of the Taj Bengal Ballroom, it drew a full house of 350 delegates, with seamless teamwork where elderly experienced past leaders of this six decade old organisation stretched smilingly with younger nextgen accounting talent. The ACAE – Association of Capital Advisers & Executives proved that Chartered Accountants are indeed CA – Capital Advisers – to Executives as value added professionals. Indeed, this first physical conference post Covid break of two years showed their vibrant enthusiasm to grow, far from being “shattered accountants” forced to survive!
The ambience was enriched with great speakers from the fraternity led by CA Debashis Mitra, the charismatic President of the ICAI and other accounting stalwarts, supported by an array of sponsors. I was glad to be remembered by my charming friend and Moderator for the debate. Suman is himself such a gifted, erudite teacher and eloquent, engaging debator that all six of us had a wonderful, diversely rich content to offer all afternoon. Need to thank Vivek Agarwal, Jinesh Vanzara, Anand Chopra & all those who helped us create a stimulating afternoon for thinking on their theme – D-I-A – DIGITALISATION, INSTITUTIONALISATION & ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Who won the day? TIE! Good result!
So, here is my take in defense of the proposition:
- D-I-A ( STANDS FOR) ‘LAMP’ – IN HINDI LANGUAGE – OF KNOWLEDGE
MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS.
“D-I-A” PROMOTES “D-E-I” – (Diversity, Equity n Inclusivity) – TO INCREASE SOCIAL PARITY THROUGH INFORMED, GUIDED CHOICES. - DATA IS THE “NEW OIL” (AS OUR PM MODIJI LOVES TO TELL THE WORLD) OR FUEL FOR PROGRESS. NOW, “BIG IS BEAUTIFUL” TO MEASURE GROWTH! IT’S NOT ‘BIG IS BAD’ ANYMORE.
- D-I-A ELIMINATES CORRUPTION BY COLLUSION. ONE MASTERMIND CANNOT MANIPULATE POWER PERMANENTLY (“You can fool some for all of the time or fool all for some of the time, but NOT all people for all of the time!”)
- D-I-A IS PREDICTIVE, NOT PREVENTIVE (for those who use it) PROACTIVELY
- LET’S USE D-I-A, NOT BE ENSLAVED!
- D-I-A ELIMINATES UNCONSCIOUS BIAS FOR AN EVEN PLAYING FIELD FOR THE FITTEST AND THE FASTEST WHILE REWARDING AND RETAINING LESSER ABLED IF CONSCIOUSLY, PROACTIVELY USED.
- D-I-A HELPS PROMOTE EXCELLENCE FOR “NISHKAMA KARMA” – PROCESS EXCELLENCE OVER RESULT-ANXIETY OR GREED. IT ELIMINATES “NISHKARMA KAMA” – ENTITLEMENT WITHOUT EFFORT! EXPOSES MEDIOCRITY OF TALENT AND POVERTY IN PERFORMANCE.
- D-I-A WILL MAKE US MORE HUMAN -AND THEREBY HUMANE – BY HELPING US TO MAKE A CHOICE TO “COMPLY OR COMPLAIN!”
Indian Governance in short!