Use Artificial Intelligence to augment human empathy, not replace it: Director, IIT Roorkee

IIT Roorkee's Director urges students to use AI to enhance empathy while maintaining human ethics and creativity.

Kamal Kishore Pant, Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee on Monday called upon students to embrace Artificial Intelligence (AI) as an augmentative force, but never let it replace human ethics and creative intuition. He was speaking at the 87th convocation of Annamalai University in Chidambaram.

“AI is not just a tool for computer scientists; it is transforming healthcare, precision agriculture, space science and even the humanities. As we integrate responsible AI into our laboratories and fields, use it to augment human empathy, not replace it. Be the generation that ensures a data-driven world remains a human-centric one. Tele-education and telemedicine have shown us that technology can be a great equalizer, provided it is guided by human expertise and evidence-based decision-making,” he said.

“As you transition from students to practitioners, embrace the principles of Shareable Science - the belief that knowledge must be transparent, inclusive and democratised to solve the world’s most complex problems,” he said.

Mr. Pant stressed the need to carry forward the lessons of the recent global crises and the vital need for resilient systems in health, energy and transition.

“The pandemic taught us that borders cannot contain a crisis, and misinformation can be more corrosive than any pollutant. Our response must be rooted in Open Science and Global Knowledge Sharing,” he said.

Students should use AI to analyse the vast datasets of climate change or to optimise chemical conversion process, but never let it replace human ethics and creative intuition. The future belongs to those who can connect engineering with society, technology with ethics, and ideas with purposeful execution, he added.