The Third Eye: Moving from Information Age to ‘Age of Intelligence'
New Delhi: The success of Information Technology revolution caused the transition of the world from the Industrial Age to the Age of Information but the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is expediting another transformational shift- from the Information Age to the Age of Intelligence propelled by the basic fact that 'all intelligence is information but all information is not intelligence'.
This shift is compelled by the reality that there was no competitive gain from having information that everybody else also had and that it is the ownership of 'exclusive knowledge' called Intelligence that gave one advantage over the others.
AI applications are becoming a means of generating and accessing such knowledge largely through Data Analytics. Any information of intelligence value has to be 'reliable' but also 'futuristic' in the sense that it indicates the 'opportunities' and 'risks' lying ahead and thus opens the pathway to gainful action. To the extent a system of algorithms can be put in place to produce 'insights' during the analysis of data, this came closer to bridging the gap between 'Artificial' and 'Human' intelligence. Fundamentally, however, AI was an 'assistant' for and not a 'substitute' for human intelligence.
Someone rightly said that Artificial Intelligence backed by Large Language Models(LLMs) can become the ultimate repository of human knowledge but even when it might be able to decide what was 'factually true or false' it could not take the stewardship of determining what is 'right or wrong'. This can only be done by the human mind that is equipped with 'intuition' rooted in conscience, piety and a capacity to think for the future.
The power of logic -another singular feature of the human mind- derives from a combination of past experience, the capacity to observe and analyse information and the ability to see things in a 'cause and effect' mode. To a limited extent 'logic' can be built into the 'machine learning' but only in a borrowed way.
Moreover, human conduct is often conditioned by the 'system of moral values' followed at the personal level- biases and wishful thinking are often built into any system of morality- and this is yet another area where Artificial Intelligence would not be able to substitute the human mind.
AI essentially works on data in the memory and the Language Models enhance its outreach to demographies and customs bringing it somewhat closer to human behaviour but what stands out in all of this is the fact that AI cannot be freed from the 'input-output' principle.
Albert Einstein famously said that 'imagination was more important than knowledge'- he was not referring to the trait of wildly imagining things that some people might have but was defining the human capacity to see beyond the data in front and perceive what lay ahead. In a way, he was alluding to the ability of the human mind not to 'miss the wood for the tree'.
Imagination and human feedback are great assets in both business and personal lives and they mark out human intelligence from the machine-led operation. They both are of great help in the areas of Customer Relations Management- since they made it possible to personalise this relationship -as well as Risk Assessment which no successful enterprise could do without.
It is important to know the difference between 'intelligence' that tests the reach of the human mind and 'machine learning' that has its own boundaries.
Intelligence by definition is information that gives you an indication of 'what lies ahead' -Artificial Intelligence is therefore going to buy its importance from its capacity to produce 'predictive' readings.
AI has the limitation of being able to only read 'patterns' in the data examined by it and if the data was about the footprints left behind in the public domain by the 'adversary' or the 'competitor', this could enable data analytics to throw light at least on the 'modus operandi' of the opponent and indicate how the latter would possibly move next. There is a partial application of 'logic' here though not of 'imagination' which was an exclusive trait of the human mind.
If AI cannot be a substitute for human intelligence the best use of it is in making it an 'assistant' for the latter and this is precisely what explains the phenomenal advancement of AI in professional and business fields. A 'symbiotic relationship' between the two guarantees a bright future for humanity at large. Data analytics can aim at bringing out trends relating to the business environment, the study of the competitors and the organisation's internal situation. It can focus on the examination of the specific requirements of a particular business, organisational entity and profession, in a bid to seek a legitimate competitive advantage.
AI is strengthening the 'knowledge economy' by helping to evolve new services and products, by making things more efficient through cost-cutting and optimal utilisation of the available workforce and by generally improving the 'quality of life' by encouraging innovation. The constant change of the business scene because of the shifting paradigms of knowledge, establishes that any AI application will not be a one-time event and will further advance the cause of research and development. The determination of the 'direction' of an AI operation, however, will remain with the human mind and this placed a fundamental limitation on AI.
As the field of Al gets enlarged, two things are emerging as major concerns- the challenge of establishing the reliability of the data banks used and the likely use of AI for unethical and criminal objectives. In the age of fake news and misinformation on social media, only verified information must be used for AI applications. Confirming the reliability of data is by itself a task for AI that would create value for business.
India as a matter of policy favours international oversight of AI research in the interest of transparency for safeguarding the general good. The US thinks of AI development purely as an economic instrument and wants to preserve ownership rights in research and innovation.
At the strategic level, AI has the potential for providing new tools of security and intelligence and in the process, can become a source of threat for the geopolitical stability of the world itself. India has rightly taken the lead in demanding the ethical advancement of AI for the good of humanity and called for a collective approach to minimising the 'perils' of AI while promoting its progress for universal causes.
It is instructive to note that the recent joint winners of the Nobel Prize for Physics- John J Hopfield of Princeton University and Geoffrey E Hinton of the University of Toronto- are pioneers in the field of modern 'machine learning' research and they have both warned that AI had the potential to cause 'apocalypse' for humanity.
(The writer is a former Director Intelligence Bureau)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
14 hours ago
- India Today
The end of hacking? How Isro and DRDO are building an unhackable quantum future
In a world increasingly reliant on digital infrastructure, securing data is no longer a luxury — it is a necessity. While today's encryption systems rely on mathematical complexity, the cybersecurity of tomorrow will be grounded in the laws of quantum the heart of this revolution is quantum entanglement, a phenomenon Albert Einstein famously described as 'spooky action at a distance.'advertisementIndia, through the collaborative efforts of Isro and DRDO, is taking bold steps to harness this concept and build hack-proof quantum communication systems that could secure everything from satellite signals to financial transactions. When you log into your bank account or send a private message, your password acts as a lock protected by complex mathematical algorithms. Even the most powerful supercomputer—like El Capitan at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, capable of 1.742 quintillion calculations per second—would take centuries to break this the looming threat is real: fully developed quantum computers could solve these puzzles in seconds. This means emails, bank transactions, and national secrets could be exposed instantly if we don't transition to quantum-secure communication. India currently lags in satellite-based execution. (Photo: Isro) advertisementGOING QUANTUMSo, how does quantum entanglement make communication secure?Imagine sending messages so secure that any attempt to hack them triggers an automatic alarm—like a cosmic tripwire. This is the promise of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). When two particles, such as photons, are entangled, their states remain linked regardless of distance. It's like rolling one magical die on Earth and seeing the same result on another at the edge of the a quantum setting, two users — commonly called Alice and Bob — exchange encryption keys using quantum particles. If a third party, Eve, tries to intercept the key, the quantum state is disturbed, immediately alerting the users to the transmitted through air, fiber optics, or satellites, quantum-secure communication ensures that any eavesdropping attempt is not just detectable — but automatically shuts down the process. With this technology, India is paving the way for a future where data is truly QUANTUM SECURITYThere are several ways to implement quantum-secure communication: through optical fibers, free-space air links, and increasingly, satellite-based quantum communication is well-suited for secure links within cities, while free-space communication is used for rooftop or mobile the real game-changer is satellite-based quantum communication, where satellites transmit quantum keys across hundreds—or even thousands—of is making significant strides in this domain. ISRO recently demonstrated entanglement-based quantum-secure communication over a 300-meter distance, where encrypted video was successfully decrypted using secure quantum keys transmitted via photons and lasers. In another breakthrough, DRDO, in collaboration with IIT Delhi, achieved hack-proof communication over a distance of more than 1 achievements are not only technologically sophisticated but also strategically vital for national defense and critical infrastructure GLOBAL SCENARIOGlobally, China leads the race with its Micius satellite, enabling secure Quantum communication over 1,200 kilometres, followed by pioneering urban experiments in Europe and the India currently lags in satellite-based execution, its dual-pronged civil-military approach gives it a unique 1 km free-space and 100 km fiber demonstrations are impressive but lag behind China's satellite Isro has already outlined plans for space-based quantum communication, and DRDO is targeting secure battlefield and rural deployment. Together, they are laying the foundation for a national quantum communication grid..@DRDO_India & @iitdelhi demonstrate Quantum Entanglement-Based Free-Space Quantum Secure Communication over more than 1 km distancePaves way for development in quantum cyber security, quantum networks & future quantum internetIndia has entered into a new quantum era of PIB India (@PIB_India) June 16, 2025advertisementWHY IT MATTERS TO YOUQuantum communication may sound like science fiction, but it is fast becoming a national priority. In an era where digital threats evolve faster than defences, India's focus on entanglement-based secure channels is more than a scientific milestone—it is a strategic embracing the strange yet powerful laws of quantum physics, India is preparing to leapfrog into a new age of secure, sovereign communication could make your online transactions, personal data, and even national security systems unhackable. As Isro and DRDO push toward a quantum internet, India is joining an elite group of nations building a secure digital future. With more investment, India's quantum leap could soon rival the world's best, ensuring your secrets stay safe in the quantum Watch
Hans India
16 hours ago
- Hans India
The Third Eye: Moving from Information Age to ‘Age of Intelligence'
New Delhi: The success of Information Technology revolution caused the transition of the world from the Industrial Age to the Age of Information but the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is expediting another transformational shift- from the Information Age to the Age of Intelligence propelled by the basic fact that 'all intelligence is information but all information is not intelligence'. This shift is compelled by the reality that there was no competitive gain from having information that everybody else also had and that it is the ownership of 'exclusive knowledge' called Intelligence that gave one advantage over the others. AI applications are becoming a means of generating and accessing such knowledge largely through Data Analytics. Any information of intelligence value has to be 'reliable' but also 'futuristic' in the sense that it indicates the 'opportunities' and 'risks' lying ahead and thus opens the pathway to gainful action. To the extent a system of algorithms can be put in place to produce 'insights' during the analysis of data, this came closer to bridging the gap between 'Artificial' and 'Human' intelligence. Fundamentally, however, AI was an 'assistant' for and not a 'substitute' for human intelligence. Someone rightly said that Artificial Intelligence backed by Large Language Models(LLMs) can become the ultimate repository of human knowledge but even when it might be able to decide what was 'factually true or false' it could not take the stewardship of determining what is 'right or wrong'. This can only be done by the human mind that is equipped with 'intuition' rooted in conscience, piety and a capacity to think for the future. The power of logic -another singular feature of the human mind- derives from a combination of past experience, the capacity to observe and analyse information and the ability to see things in a 'cause and effect' mode. To a limited extent 'logic' can be built into the 'machine learning' but only in a borrowed way. Moreover, human conduct is often conditioned by the 'system of moral values' followed at the personal level- biases and wishful thinking are often built into any system of morality- and this is yet another area where Artificial Intelligence would not be able to substitute the human mind. AI essentially works on data in the memory and the Language Models enhance its outreach to demographies and customs bringing it somewhat closer to human behaviour but what stands out in all of this is the fact that AI cannot be freed from the 'input-output' principle. Albert Einstein famously said that 'imagination was more important than knowledge'- he was not referring to the trait of wildly imagining things that some people might have but was defining the human capacity to see beyond the data in front and perceive what lay ahead. In a way, he was alluding to the ability of the human mind not to 'miss the wood for the tree'. Imagination and human feedback are great assets in both business and personal lives and they mark out human intelligence from the machine-led operation. They both are of great help in the areas of Customer Relations Management- since they made it possible to personalise this relationship -as well as Risk Assessment which no successful enterprise could do without. It is important to know the difference between 'intelligence' that tests the reach of the human mind and 'machine learning' that has its own boundaries. Intelligence by definition is information that gives you an indication of 'what lies ahead' -Artificial Intelligence is therefore going to buy its importance from its capacity to produce 'predictive' readings. AI has the limitation of being able to only read 'patterns' in the data examined by it and if the data was about the footprints left behind in the public domain by the 'adversary' or the 'competitor', this could enable data analytics to throw light at least on the 'modus operandi' of the opponent and indicate how the latter would possibly move next. There is a partial application of 'logic' here though not of 'imagination' which was an exclusive trait of the human mind. If AI cannot be a substitute for human intelligence the best use of it is in making it an 'assistant' for the latter and this is precisely what explains the phenomenal advancement of AI in professional and business fields. A 'symbiotic relationship' between the two guarantees a bright future for humanity at large. Data analytics can aim at bringing out trends relating to the business environment, the study of the competitors and the organisation's internal situation. It can focus on the examination of the specific requirements of a particular business, organisational entity and profession, in a bid to seek a legitimate competitive advantage. AI is strengthening the 'knowledge economy' by helping to evolve new services and products, by making things more efficient through cost-cutting and optimal utilisation of the available workforce and by generally improving the 'quality of life' by encouraging innovation. The constant change of the business scene because of the shifting paradigms of knowledge, establishes that any AI application will not be a one-time event and will further advance the cause of research and development. The determination of the 'direction' of an AI operation, however, will remain with the human mind and this placed a fundamental limitation on AI. As the field of Al gets enlarged, two things are emerging as major concerns- the challenge of establishing the reliability of the data banks used and the likely use of AI for unethical and criminal objectives. In the age of fake news and misinformation on social media, only verified information must be used for AI applications. Confirming the reliability of data is by itself a task for AI that would create value for business. India as a matter of policy favours international oversight of AI research in the interest of transparency for safeguarding the general good. The US thinks of AI development purely as an economic instrument and wants to preserve ownership rights in research and innovation. At the strategic level, AI has the potential for providing new tools of security and intelligence and in the process, can become a source of threat for the geopolitical stability of the world itself. India has rightly taken the lead in demanding the ethical advancement of AI for the good of humanity and called for a collective approach to minimising the 'perils' of AI while promoting its progress for universal causes. It is instructive to note that the recent joint winners of the Nobel Prize for Physics- John J Hopfield of Princeton University and Geoffrey E Hinton of the University of Toronto- are pioneers in the field of modern 'machine learning' research and they have both warned that AI had the potential to cause 'apocalypse' for humanity. (The writer is a former Director Intelligence Bureau)
Time of India
4 days ago
- Time of India
Amid Israel-Iran conflict, FBI's secret file on Albert Einstein's anti-nuclear fears resurfaces
As Israel 's strikes on Iran and counterstrikes continue to rattle global nerves—targeting top nuclear scientists and key infrastructure—an eerie echo from the past is capturing public imagination: the FBI's massive, once-secret 1,400-page file on Albert Einstein. On Reddit and social media, many are stunned to learn that America's most celebrated physicist spent over two decades under government surveillance—not for his science, but for his politics, pacifism, and powerful opposition to nuclear warfare. The Guardian recently reported that Israel's attacks, though tactically impactful, have not critically derailed Iran's nuclear program. Experts warn that this military gamble could, paradoxically, hasten Iran's nuclear ambitions if no diplomatic resolution follows. Amid this volatile context, Einstein's historic warning about unchecked nuclear proliferation is more relevant than ever. Why Einstein Alarmed the FBI Albert Einstein, whose 1939 letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt helped catalyze the U.S. atomic program, would later become one of its fiercest moral critics. Yet, what truly irked J. Edgar Hoover's FBI wasn't just Einstein's views on war—it was his unwavering activism. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo According to the FBI file, which ballooned to 1,427 pages by the time of Einstein's death in 1955, Hoover branded him 'an extreme radical.' The file details years of spying on the Nobel laureate for opposing segregation, speaking out against capitalism, and maintaining friendships across racial and ideological lines. It also flagged his association with civil rights icons, like African-American singer Marian Anderson, who once stayed at his home after being denied hotel entry in segregated New Jersey. In a quote cited from Einstein's 1931 writing, he stated, 'I regard class differences as contrary to justice and, in the last resort, based on force.' This, during the Great Depression and amidst the rise of communism, was enough to draw the ire of Hoover's Red Scare-fueled regime. You Might Also Like: Living Nostradamus had warned of Iran-Israel conflict escalation last year. What are his predictions for rest of 2025? — IntlSpyMuseum (@IntlSpyMuseum) A Complicated Bond With the Bomb Einstein's involvement in the creation of nuclear weapons was reluctant but prescient. Though a committed pacifist, he warned in his 1939 letter that Nazi Germany might be developing atomic bombs, pushing the U.S. to act. But after Hiroshima and Nagasaki , Einstein was filled with regret. He championed global nuclear disarmament , describing modern warfare as 'a form of insanity,' and insisted that the future of nuclear technology be governed by international cooperation. According to a report in The Guardian , Israel's military efforts have only bought 'a few months' of delay in Iran's nuclear breakout capability—if that. Some U.S. intelligence assessments, as cited by CNN , even suggest Iran is not actively pursuing a bomb at this moment. Yet, the stakes remain sky-high, with tensions in the Middle East feeding global anxieties over a potential nuclear escalation. — phalpern (@phalpern) Einstein's Prophetic Warnings in a Nuclear World In the same week that Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported on the growing stockpiles of nuclear weapons across nine countries, Einstein's warnings are ringing louder. His call for a world where war was obsolete and nuclear arms were tightly controlled was not naïve—it was urgent. As his biographer Walter Isaacson noted, Einstein loved America not for its power, but for its 'tolerance of free thought, free speech, and nonconformist beliefs.' But this same nation kept him under surveillance for decades, fearful that his ideas might challenge the status quo. You Might Also Like: Will US join the Israel-Iran war? Ex-Harvard professor says his AI can predict wars One viral Reddit comment sums up public reaction to the resurfaced file: 'Anyone that can 'change the world with ideas' is a threat to those in power.' Another adds, 'I didn't know this was a thing… damn.' The Cycle of Nuclear Fear Nearly seventy years after Einstein's death, his fears are once again being played out on the global stage. Nuclear capability remains a bargaining chip and a threat. Iran says its enrichment is peaceful; Israel fears otherwise. Meanwhile, the U.S., China, Russia, and other nuclear powers continue to expand their arsenals while urging restraint in others. Einstein once warned, 'The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking—and thus we drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.' That drift now seems less hypothetical and more real.
