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Can the Mahabharata teach us how to manage Artificial Intelligence?
By
Latha Srinivasan: There are many lessons to be learnt from the ideology
of our Sanskrit epics, say scholars. The contribution of the Bhagavad
Gita to management principles is well-documented today. Now, there is a
train of thought that believes the Mahabharata can teach us how to
manage machine autonomy and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
While
experts believe that AI will improve human effectiveness, capacities,
and open a world of vast opportunities, it also presents us with
unprecedented threats. So how does the Mahabharata help us in this
context?
MAHABHARATA DICE GAME EPISODE AND QUESTIONS POSED
As
an example, let us look at the dice game that was played between the
Pandavas and Kauravas. Shakuni (Duryodhana’s uncle), a master player,
threw the dice for Duryodhana (Kauravas), while Yudhisthira represented
the Pandavas. Yudhisthira had a penchant for gambling and the dice game
that day, which initially started with small bets on jewellery and land,
led to Yudhisthira eventually losing all his precious possessions,
including his kingdom and brothers. He finally bet his wife, Draupadi,
as well and lost her in the game. From kings, the Pandavas ended up
becoming slaves, and Duryodhana was elated with the revenge he got on
the Pandavas and Draupadi.
After
the game, a furious Draupadi posed several questions before her husband
and the Kuru elders. She asked if Yudhisthira had lost himself first
and became a slave. In that case, a slave was not a free person and
could not own anything. So how could someone put her at stake in a
gamble when he was neither free nor had the right to own anything?
Draupadi stated it was a transgression of dharma, unlawful and
incorrect.
Bhisma
Pitamah, the legal expert, replied that it depends, since a wife was
the husband’s property and therefore, she could be staked.
Draupadi’s questions go unanswered and, as we know, the game of dice had been rigged by the Kauravas.
This
entire episode brought to the forefront pertinent ethical, legal and
administrative challenges. And this is the connection between AI and the
Mahabharata – there are ethical, legal and administrative issues in AI
today. Can AI be allowed to make life and death decisions? Will AI make
the right life and death decisions? Can it be allowed to function
autonomously without human intervention at any level?
CAN LESSONS FROM MAHABHARATA BE USED TO MANAGE AI?
When
asked about some of the ways in which humans can manage AI using
lessons from the Mahabharata, Professor V Srivatsan from the Stern
School of Business (NYU) said, “One of the main challenges in managing
AI is that we - mankind - currently lack a unified philosophical
approach in sharing our thinking. This necessary perspective needs to
have some seemingly contradictory characteristics: a) philosophically
rigorous thinking; b) a relatively easy way to communicate it to the
higher educated worldwide; and c) insights into how to modify it for a
wide variety of national and sectoral contexts. The Mahabharata is an
outstanding vehicle to accomplish all the above.”
When
asked about how much autonomy we can give AI, Professor Srivatsan
replied, “Before we collectively decide how much autonomy we grant AI -
it’ll vary depending upon the domain - we need to educate ourselves
deeply about what it means to be human. As Alexander Pope pointed out,
‘The proper study of mankind is Man’. The best way - STILL - for us to
study mankind is through great literature; the greatest thoughts of the
greatest minds.”
“The
Mahabharata- which embodies the collective learning of the planet’s
only continuously surviving Neolithic civilization- meets that
criterion; not least because it has more than two dozen individuals with
details on their background, idiosyncrasies and inner character
development,” Professor Srivastan added.
Immersing
ourselves in the study of the humanities (and possibly the Mahabharata)
is the best way to prepare for the emerging AI world, state some
experts.
Recently,
David Brooks wrote an article for the New York Times about how we need
to learn how to be human in the age of AI. He wrote, “AI will probably
give us fantastic tools that will help us outsource a lot of our current
mental work. At the same time, AI will force us humans to double down
on those talents and skills that only humans possess. The most important
thing about AI may be that it shows us what it can’t do, and so reveals
who we are and what we have to offer.”
He
listed distinct human skills, like a personal voice, presentation
skills, a childlike talent for creativity, unusual worldviews, empathy
and situational awareness, which cannot be replicated by AI.
An
example of machine autonomy or intelligence existed at the time of the
Mahabharata in the form of Krishna’s Sudarshana Chakra, which could
track its target, destroy it, and return to its owner. But Krishna,
being a God, used his weapon wisely according to the rules of war. Could
we say the same about AI and its use in warfare today?
Wars have been shaped by technology and
now the challenge with the use of AI in warfare is on what basis would
it deploy the weapon and, more importantly, should humans even allow
this possibility?
Former
US Secretary of State Henry A Kissinger, Eric Schmidt, and Daniel
Huttenlocher, wrote a book ‘The Age of AI: And Our Human Future’. In an
interview with Time magazine in 2021, Henry Kissinger spoke about the
good and bad side of AI. Henry Kissinger said, “Up to now, humanity
assumed that its technological progress was beneficial or manageable. We
are saying that it can be hugely beneficial. It may be manageable, but
there are aspects to the managing part of it that we haven’t studied at
all or sufficiently. I remain worried. I’m opposed to saying we
therefore have to eliminate it. It’s there now. One of the major points
is that we think there should be created some philosophy to guide the
research.”
Co-author
Eric Schmidt asserted that a philosophical framework, a set of
understandings of where the limits of this technology should go, should
be built by scientists and those who frame policy. Dr Kissinger aptly
said, “It may be the nature of the human destiny and human tragedy that
they have been given the gift to invent things. But the punishment may
be that they have to find the solutions themselves.”
With
AI shaping the future of humanity, it is now up to humans to develop
the philosophy on which AI would function so that it’s not a threat but a
boon for us. And it is this precise philosophy which the Mahabharata
potentially provides, believe some scholars.
Read Here : https://www.indiatoday.in/news-analysis/story/can-mahabharata-teach-us-how-to-manage-artificial-intelligence-2338623-2023-02-23