AI for Tech for Good-Ideas whose time has come!
“No Matter What People Tell You, Words And Ideas Can Change The World.” — Robin Williams
Tech for good ideas can emerge from anywhere, and in a world that is facing unprecedented, interconnected challenges, we believe technology can help in getting these ideas to see the light of the day.
One such example is the integration of AI as part of Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE)’s SEWA program (Social Empowerment through Work Education and Action) which allows students from all streams to build innovation readiness by learning to use AI responsibly. This inclusion encourages students to contribute to social good with the aid of technology such as Artificial Intelligence.
Several thousand students from across India were trained on AI skills as a part of this initiative. The trainings focused on helping students learn responsible usage of AI to address problems in the society and come up with AI powered solutions. Students were coached on Design Thinking approach for problem solving — identify the problem, ideate, design and build followed by sharing their work through storytelling
Students submitted their ideas for the “AI for Better India” hackathon by IBM to address key issues faced by India thus helping in the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Hundreds of ideas were received and mentored by IBM to build project prototypes. Top projects were presented to the judges in Shark Tank style. Here’s a look at the top 3 projects which show the potential of young India.
Top 3 winning teams
1st Place: HEALTHub — AI health kit for rural areas by Akanksha Rani, Yash Pandey, Ansh Ahuja from Apeejay School, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi
This project allows patients to enter their visible symptoms in a system to assess the possible illness using visual sensors. The details of the patient along with collected symptoms are instantly sent to a certified doctor. The doctor can approve the suggestions or provide a revised diagnosis along with the prescription to provide the required medication. This solution was built using IBM Watson Visual Recognition APIs for identifying visible symptoms and IBM Cloudant.
2nd Place (Joint): MEDBOx — Smart Medicine Box by Madhav Malik, Diya Sarkar from Jaypee Public School, Noida
Timely medication is crucial for the elderly. To enable consumption of timely medication, this team created MEDBOx, a “smart medicine box”, which provides timely reminders for the right medication. The scheduling can be done using a mobile app and it syncs with MEDBOx over Bluetooth. Users can upload their prescription by taking a picture and the system uses NLP. When it’s time, a gentle alarm alerts the user and continues until the box is opened. This solution aids the elderly to achieve better health and independence.
2nd Place (Joint):
Saylus — Safety App by Bhavye Khetan from Delhi Public School, Gurgaon
Saylus is a women safety device which helps women in distress by proactively alerting known contacts and police via “Connected Wearables”. This AI application connected to a wearable gets activated by a code word and alerts the PCR, family and friends with the location details.
