“ArtificialIntelligence has had some big technical breakthroughs in the last decade,including deep learning gaining popularity because of the availability of bigdata, compute power, and algorithms. It has now moved from science fiction toreal world applications. Solutions we had imagined previously are now withinreach. Intel's AI technologies are being used for numerous applicationsincluding faster drug discovery to fight diseases like cancer, optimising cropyields, smart cars and drones, finding missing children, use in forensicscience, etc. India is well known as a tech hub, and I see it taking fulladvantage of advancements in AI as it relates to health, farming,transportation logistics, fraud detection, autonomous driving, etc,” saidMs Huma Abidi, Senior Director of AI Software products and Engineering,INTEL, California, USA while addressing participants during a webinarorganized by Pushpa Gujral Science City (PGSC) at the occasion of InternationalDay for Women and Girls in Science.
Ms. Abidi pointedout whilewomen have come a long way, substantial gaps remain when it comes to genderparity. What has been encouraging in the last few years, however, is the comingtogether of the governments, academia and industry to accelerate inclusiveparticipation of women at the workplace. Technology companies are more awarethan ever, that a diverse workforce and inclusive culture are not just criticalto their evolution but are the driving forces of their growth.
Ms Abidi further said, “In order to attract women, we need to do a better jobexplaining to girls and young women, especially from small towns, as to how AIis relevant in the world, and how they can be part of creating exciting andimpactful solutions. We need to show them that AI spans so many different areasof life, and they can use AI technology in their domain of interest, whetherit’s art or robotics or data journalism or television. Some of the existingexciting applications of AI which has already started impacting our daily livesare virtual assistants like Alexa, self-driving cars, customer targeted ads onsocial media or how Netflix knows which movies a client wishes towatch. Fortunately we now have many great role models suchas Fei Fei Li who is leading human centered AI atStanford and Meredith Whittaker, who works on social implications throughthe AI Now institute at NYU, plus many more women leaders emerging in AI”.
Dr NeelimaJerath, Director General, Science City said, “Statistics show that women remainwidely underrepresented in STEM fields. Although science subjects like medicineand biology are well represented by women, fields such as engineering,mathematics and computer science are generally perceived as male bastions. Evenwhile discussing these subjects, the vast majority of references girls hear aremasculine, although women have increasingly contributed immensely to thisfield, especially in technology and management.
DrJerath felt that women role models can show young girls that it is cool to bean engineer or a scientist. One important aspect which needs to beacknowledged is that this is inspite of women being saddled with the biologicalresponsibility of bearing a child or taking primary care of the family.
Ms Khushi Sharma, a young researcher and blogger also shared her researchjourney and how her school and home environment had motivated her to look intonew vistas in science. She felt that science centres like, Pushpa GujralScience City are great motivating factors which can influence girls to enjoyscience. Khushi said, “Soon after my exams towards the end of March last year,India went under lock-down. How could a virus be so fierce, bringing the wholehumanity to its knees? How could I contribute? My curiosity and interest led meto study the science behind COVID 19. Since then I have spent hours each daytrying to understand the various aspects of this dreadful contagion and whatshould be done”. Khushi shared her live mathematical model simulating thedifferential equations that govern the flow of people between four compartmentsof the S E I R model of Epidemiology. This live model works for any city,region, or country and forecasts the extent of the spread and preparationsrequired.
Dr Grover, Director, Science City said, “The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemichas clearly demonstrated the critical role of women researchers in differentstages of the fight against COVID-19, from advancing the knowledge on thevirus, to developing techniques for testing, and finally to creating thevaccine against the virus”.
International Day for women and girls in science isorganized annually on February 11 to celebrate and acknowledge theimportant role that girls and women play in science and technology, and tosupport gender equality in these fields. Dr. Loveleen Brar,Scientist, Science City said, “Today women have excelled in all fields. It isheartening that presently Science and Technology Department in Govt. ofPunjab was primarily led by women with three out of 5 HoDs being women and thatone out of three major science cities was woman led. She also mentioned thatpresently even the state government was led by a women Chief Secretary