Mumbai-based AI start-up creates a study buddy

Arya.ai's study companion can store a database of previous research, then help with relevant queries in real time, reports Tech in Asia

Whether or not you think we should heed the warnings offered to us by many a 90s movie like The Terminator, we’re well into the robot age. Chinese giant Baidu is already offering AI software, a Baymax-type of personal health artificial intelligence, but AIs have also given our generation new ways of recreation. With Japan’s Suidobashi Heavy Industry and the US’s Megabots planning what can be described as round two of a robot-off set for this summer, artificial intelligence is a field wide open for different uses. Mumbai-based start-up Arya.ai is hopping on that train full speed ahead.

While Suidobashi and Megabots’ duel looks like something straight out of Pacific Rim and is very much meant for sport, Arya.ai’s plans are meant more for immediate use. It’s a study companion that can store a database of previous research, then help with relevant queries in real time. In other words, if your understanding increases the more you read, why not just have something that can read hundreds or more texts for you, then offer you suggestions on where to go next?
 

“We started by solving a problem for researchers [because] we are researchers,” says founder Vinay Kumar. However, the ability to digest a lot of information for application is a skill that carries across professions, from economics to medicine to engineering.
 

Though the AI is still in a prototype stage, Vinay says its cost will depend on how much storage space an individual or institution needs for work. Reading hundreds of papers isn’t a huge deal, but the AI will need a lot of space if required to read millions of texts.

This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read