N. Raghuraman's Column: Maximize AI for the larger good of society

Binnaguri is a place spread over about 52 km between Madarihat-Nagarakata section in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal. The area is known for its dense population of elephants, which roam through the forests of Chapramari and Gorumara and often cross the railway tracks to get to seasonal movements and tea gardens. This is not the only locality, but there are many such places in eastern India. Eight elephants died after colliding with the Sarang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express on 20th December 2025 in Hojai district of Assam, taking the number of elephants killed on railway tracks to 90. Loco pilots are aware of this and they keep the speed of trains at 50 km per hour, but it is not enough to prevent accidents. Now, with the help of AI, a new initiative can prevent such accidents. In the four railway corridors where the detection system has been started, the station superintendent is alerted through a buzzer. He immediately alerts the loco pilot to increase the speed to 25 kmph. At such a low speed, the train can be stopped much faster. AI is not only avoiding accidents, but also improving the quality of life for humans and other creatures. Here are some examples. AI has helped in improving diabetes screening. Researchers from Yenepoya (Deemed-to-Be) University, the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation in Chennai and Emory University in Atlanta have developed an AI-based method. It uses high-resolution images of the retina to know the changes in blood vessels associated with diabetes. It does not have the hassle of taking blood from the finger and the accuracy is also high. The findings, published in the journal Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics, are based on the unique ability of the retina to visualize living blood vessels in a non-invasive manner. More than 100 million people in India have diabetes and we don't know how many of them prick themselves with a needle every day to check their sugar levels. Such AI-based inventions can arguably improve the lives of this population. Look at another example of traffic management. The situation in this area is getting worse due to increasing vehicles and continuously issuing driving licenses. In order to curb this and test awareness of traffic indicators and rules among new drivers, IIT Madras's Centre for Excellence on Road Safety (COERS) has created an AI-based learning management system. The system, called 'Thinnai', will have multiple levels of tests through modules like video games. It is still in the evaluation stage. Once approved, it can be used to issue learner's licenses. AI is moving from a specialized tool to becoming like an infrastructure for humans. It is providing solutions to complex problems in diverse fields. It is expected that by the end of 2026, AI will become a more deeply connected, structural, and 'silent' technology in everyday life and industries, rather than ostentatious and innovative applications. In healthcare, its algorithms can analyze medical scans and data more accurately than human experts. This makes the diagnosis faster. This can speed up the discovery of new drugs. In an era of growing nuclear families and relative shortages, AI-based telemedicine, chatbots and wearable technologies are connecting patients in remote areas with expert care. Agriculture, food security, crop management, combating climate change and sustainable development are also areas where AI can improve human life. AI-driven adaptive learning platforms can create content as per the specific needs of the students. Government schemes can increase the efficiency of public services by reducing processing time. To deal with hacking attempts, AI can detect anomalies and threats in real-time that traditional systems cannot detect. The bottom line is that in 2026, we humans must make the most of AI for the larger good of society.