Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], November 5: Universities should give students practical experience with artificial intelligence in their own subjects and teach them to check its output before relying on it, panellists said at the inaugural VU Intersect business conclave, held at Vidyashilp University on October 30.
The discussion on The Impact of AI on Employment brought together enterprise AI architect Amit Parashar, Quantum Customer Solutions founder and chairperson Meena Kaushik, and Redefining Group of Companies chief mentor Sridhar Rajagopal. Journalist Sujit John moderated the panel.
Panellists said AI could change the tasks people perform in many existing jobs, while its use alongside robotics could displace some roles that involve routine, repetitive work. As employers adopt new tools, graduates will need both the skills to use them and the subject knowledge to recognise when their answers are wrong, the panel said.
In a business course, for instance, students could use AI to draft a sales forecast, then compare it with actual sales figures and explain which assumptions they would revise. The panel urged universities to build practical exercises into courses across disciplines so students learn to make and defend decisions with AI as part of their work.
The conclave also brought together students from institutions including CHRIST University, Reva University, SIBM Bengaluru, Presidency University and Kristu Jayanti University for a business plan competition. The jury included Hari Hegde, founding partner of Edhina Capital Advisors, Vandana Nadig Nair of Phicus Social Solutions, and Rishab Sinha, founder of Sinamobility and Sidworks.
A team from CHRIST University won with a proposal for a marketplace where customers could transfer bookings they could no longer use. If a traveller’s plans changed, for example, they could pass an eligible reservation to someone else through the platform. The team proposed using blockchain to record who held the booking and track its transfer.
Vidyashilp University’s School of Business and Entrepreneurship plans to make VU Intersect an annual event. The competition gives students from different universities a chance to take an idea from the classroom, present it to industry experts and answer questions about how it would work as a business.
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