Aug. 29: The moment one of the many motors of a large machine malfunctions, the machine alerts an engineer who reaches the spot to fix it.

This is not a scene from a science fiction movie but one of the several areas where Artificial Intelligence (AI) can make it possible.

Industry experts, academics and engineers discussed the evolution and possibilities of AI at a seminar, titled Industry 4.0 - The New Era of AI, organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce yesterday.

Industry 4.0 refers to the fourth industrial revolution, the first three being the advent of steam, electricity and computers. It is the next phase in the digitisation of the manufacturing sector, driven by automation and data exchange.

The backbone of the system is the Internet of Things, a network in which machines - from a motor in a factory to a car - exchange data and alert people when their intervention is needed.

Bhaskar Gupta, professor of electronics and telecommunication engineering at Jadavpur University, spoke of the lack of cooperation between the industry and the academia.

When companies are mulling driverless trucks, hundreds of scholars in the country are submitting PhD papers on archaic concepts like digital watermark, Gupta said.

It is imperative that engineering courses are updated with regular inputs from industry, he said. "Artificial intelligence won't replace human beings but human tasks."

The manufacturing sector needs to adopt Industry 4.0 fast to increase its contribution to the GDP, Sitaram Sharma, senior vice-president, Bharat Chamber of Commerce, said.

Artificial intelligence ensures real-time communication between physical systems and with human beings. So, when the TV screen is blurred in the middle of a football match, one won't have to wonder if the problem is with the set or the connection: the machine will let him/her know.

Debasish Sen, additional chief secretary, department of information technology and electronics, was the chief guest. India and Bengal, in particular, was the hub of information technology and should not "cede the space to others" when it comes to embracing artificial intelligence, he said.

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