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Robodog row: Galgotias out of AI Summit
Galgotias University faced backlash at the AI Impact Summit for misrepresenting exhibits, leading to its removal for misleading claims about technology.
Artificial intelligence met human stupidity in a huge embarrassment for the organisers of the AI Impact Summit, with claims by an exhibitor , a Noida-based university, on developing a robotic dog and a “drone soccer arena” being belied by the fact that the first is a Chinese product, and the second, a Korean one.
The exhibitor, Galgotias University was asked and then forced to vacate its stall at the expo on Wednesday by the government.
“We want genuine exhibitors at the expo. We don’t want controversy around exhibits here. Plagiarism, misinformation cannot be encouraged. This should not overshadow the wonderful exhibits others have put out,” said IT ministry secretary S Krishnan at a press conference on Wednesday.
“The main problem is they (Galgotias) claimed to be something they are not. They misled. The whole world is here,” added Abhishek Singh, additional secretary at MeitY, and India AI Mission CEO. The conference is organised by the IT ministry.
An official at the government’s Press Information Bureau said on condition of anonymity that the reason Galgotias was asked to vacate its stall was because its conduct has become a “national embarrassment ”.
While university faculty manning the stall went blue in the face trying to pass off the controversy as the result of miscommunication and misinterpretation, the fact remains that a faculty member manning the stall, on Tuesday claimed both the dog (which she called Orion, presumably after Greek hunter Orion who had a dog called Sirius), and the drone soccer arena were developed by Galgotias University.
In a now deleted post, Indian IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday posted a video on X which had visuals of the contentious robodog. The minister deleted the post Wednesday morning. A community note, an X feature in which users can add notes to fact-check a post, was added to the minister’s post saying, “This robot is imported from China which costs around $2,800…”
In a statement issued late Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, Galgotias University said, “We at Galgotias, faculty and students, are deeply pained by the propaganda campaign against our university. We would like to clearly state that the robotic programming is part of our endeavour to make students learn Al programming and develop and deploy real world skills using globally available tools and resources, given developing AI talent is need of an hour. Our university’s vision is focused on student learning & innovation and we provide students with access to modern technologies so they can gain practical experience and prepare for the future. Spreading negativity can harm the morale of students, who are working hard to innovate, learn, and build their skills using global technologies.”
But on Wednesday, as it became clear that the university’s explanation wouldn’t make the cut, it resorted to the oldest defence in the world: finding a scapegoat (the faculty member, whom the university described as “ill-informed” , swayed by “being on-camera”, and “not authorised to speak to the press” ) , and issuing an apology.
For almost the entire day, though, Galgotias was the biggest story from the summit -- only, not how it would have wanted to be remembered.
