Computer, Internet & Artificial Intelligence
Essay Category: 7.3 | Last updated: 2026-06-26
PYQs Asked
- The process of self-discovery has now been technologically outsourced. -2021
- Technology as the silent factor in international relations. -2020
- Rise of Artificial Intelligence: the threat of jobless future or better job opportunities through reskilling. -2019
- Social media is inherently a selfish medium. -2017
- Cyberspace and Internet: Blessing or curse to the human civilization in the long run. -2016
- Increasing computerization would lead to the creation of a dehumanized society. -2006
- Computer: the harbinger of silent revolution. -1993
Content Bank
Key Arguments & Ideas
(Core conceptual frameworks, thesis-antithesis points, philosophical anchors)
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Facts & Data
(Statistics, schemes, policy details, reports — use as evidence in essay body)
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Contemporary Examples
(Current affairs added over time — recent real-world instances for this theme)
- AI solves an 80-year-old maths problem (2026): An OpenAI model reportedly cracked the "planar unit distance problem" open since 1946 (a Paul Erdős problem) — hailed as a landmark in AI reasoning, with a Cambridge mathematician saying a human author would merit a top-journal publication. Powerful example of AI moving from tool to researcher/discoverer. Counterpoint for balance: models still "hallucinate," so AI proofs need human verification — feeds the "blessing or curse" and "self-discovery outsourced" PYQ themes. (Indian Express, 04-06-2026)
- Deepfakes weaponised against children (2026): Guwahati schoolboys created and sold AI-generated explicit images of 64 classmates and teachers on Telegram — a stark instance that "increasing computerization can lead to a dehumanized society" (2006): AI image tools have democratised non-consensual synthetic media, with minors as both victims and offenders. (The Hindu, 15-06-2026)
- AI sovereignty / "trusted AI" (2026): At the India–France summit, Macron attacked the US ban on non-US access to Anthropic's frontier models as "closing up AI into a power tool," and both leaders pitched cooperative, human-centric AI — a live illustration of "technology as the silent factor in international relations" (2020): model access and compute are now geopolitical chokepoints, strengthening the case for AI sovereignty (IndiaAI Mission). (The Hindu, 15-06-2026)
- The limits of AI — extrapolation & judgment (2026): A Science Advances study showed top AI weather models (GraphCast, Pangu-Weather, Fuxi) match physics models on normal weather but systematically under-predict record-breaking extremes — they interpolate within past data yet can't extrapolate to the unprecedented; and an oncologist's account shows LLMs democratise medical knowledge but "information is not judgment" (accuracy collapses on complex cases, eroding doctor–patient trust and delaying care). A balanced, current counterpoint to AI-hype for "cyberspace: blessing or curse" (2016) and "AI: jobless future or reskilling" (2019): AI is powerful within its training distribution but brittle exactly where stakes are highest. (The Hindu, 16-06-2026)
- AI becomes a metered utility (2026): Microsoft shifted its AI agents to "pay-as-you-go" pricing — paying by usage, not a flat per-seat subscription — because, unlike selling software once, every prompt and agent action consumes compute (token cost). It moves AI toward the economics of electricity/cloud: a powerful image for essays on AI's spread ("silent revolution," "blessing or curse") — AI is becoming infrastructure billed like a meter, raising both access (pay for what you use) and unpredictability/affordability concerns. (The Hindu, 21-06-2026)
- "Keeping humanity at the centre" — a moral compass for AI (2026): Pope Leo XIV's encyclical "Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of AI" warns against AI-driven "new forms of dehumanization" and the "idolatry of profit," urging us to stay "profoundly human." It frames the deepest essay question — whether functional efficiency and material abundance should prevail over human dignity, emotion and the "yearnings of the human soul" — and pairs the promise (cancer screening, education, disaster forecasting) against a feared "global epidemic of stress" and a "useless class." Modi (VivaTech Paris / India-AI Impact Summit) argues for an enforceable, not voluntary, global AI framework and digital sovereignty. A ready philosophical anchor (with Ortega y Gasset's "Lord of all things, he is not Lord of himself") for "increasing computerization can lead to a dehumanized society" (2006) and "blessing or curse" themes. (The Hindu, 26-06-2026)
Historical Examples
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Useful Quotes
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Essay Angles & Structure Tips
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