BENGALURU: Artificial Intelligence (AI) could soon disrupt the very foundation of science education, said mathematician and Princeton University professor Manjul Bhargava on Friday.
Delivering the convocation address at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on Friday, he pointed out that within the next year or two, advanced AI models will likely be able to correctly solve undergraduate-level science problems — a development that will compel premier institutions like IISc to reconsider what and how they teach.
While acknowledging that current AI systems still struggle with complex scientific reasoning and remain “bad” at solving math and science problems, Prof Bhargava said significant progress is already under way. “More capable models are being tested. Once they cross that threshold, the role of institutions will evolve drastically. What should we be teaching once machines can answer questions better than us?”
During the convocation, 1,593 students received their degrees, including 1,487 postgraduate students and 106 undergraduates. Among them, 84 students, including 16 women, were awarded medals for academic excellence.
Kris Gopalakrishnan, chairperson of the IISc Council and co-founder of Infosys, along with senior faculty members of the institute, were present.
THE MEDALLISTS
2023-24 batch
18 students in MTech, one each in MDes, MSc and MMgt, 33 in PhD, six in MTech (Research), four in Integrated PhD and three in UG.
2024-25
11 in Mtech, one each in MDes and MEngg, two each in MSc and UG programme.
The Prof BG Raghavendra Memorial Medal was awarded to Somwanish Nikhil Chottu posthumously. He passed away a few months ago and was from the Department of Management Studies. Chottu had studied the MMgmt programme at IISc.