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A new industrial revolution is taking shape in China with dark factories where fully automated manufacturing facilities operate without human workers or the need for lights. The factories are called dark factories because they are dark in literal sense as machines can work efficiently without lights. 

What are Dark Factories? 

Dark factories in China are driven by advanced technology of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and sensors and will be a significant change in the manufacturing environment across the world. Everything in this dark factory is done by machines, instead of humans, where there is no need to turn on the lights, fans, heaters, or to take breaks. This not only reduces energy consumption and operational costs but also allows for 24/7 production, maximizing efficiency and output. 

The push towards dark factories is a core part of China’s ambitious “Made in China 2025” initiative, which aims to make the country a global leader in high-tech manufacturing. The government of China has put a lot of money into automation and has installed more than 290, 000 industrial robots in 2022, which is more than 50 % of all the robots installed in the world, way ahead of other countries. 

Leading Companies and Examples 

Major corporations like Foxconn and BYD are leading this transformation. Foxconn has replaced tens of thousands of workers with robots and plans to automate 1/3rd of its operations by 2025. Xiaomi’s Changping facility exemplifies this trend, producing one smartphone every second through AI-powered systems.

Benefits and Challenges

Dark factories are not just for efficiency but for the need of the era where fast commerce is increasing and people don’t possess patience to wait for a thing. Also, As labor costs in China rise, automation offers a way to maintain competitiveness and avoid issues like strikes or labor shortages. Robots are also more accurate that minimize product defects and enhance the quality of the products being manufactured. 

However, challenges surround this revolution. The transition brings fear of job displacement to millions of factory employees and creates new demand for highly skilled engineers and technicians to design, maintain and upgrade these sophisticated systems. 

The Future of Manufacturing 

The trend is gaining momentum despite these misgivings. By early 2025, Chinese companies had built thousands of smart and hundreds of fully automated dark factories, primarily in high-tech industries electronics and electric vehicles. These plants are the results of the collaboration of AI, big data, and 5G technologies that redefine the industry and the quality control and productivity levels.

In conclusion, China is changing and revolutionizing production with its dark factories and its push towards modern technology and efficiency. On the one hand, the dark factory of China is offering the future of greater productivity and reduction of costs; on the other hand, it vividly demonstrates the necessity of discussing the social and economic consequences of automation on the working population. 

In a significant move, the Delhi government has decided to install smart boards in government schools. This digital initiative will change the way lakhs of children gain education on a daily basis. This is one of the largest investments in the world, the Delhi Cabinet has sanctioned, 900 crores, to have nearly 21000 smart boards replace the blackboards in classrooms in government schools by 2029-30, and a smart board, is not just about technology, it makes a difference in bridging it in the opportunity gap, and it also makes a difference to the minds of young people.

For decades, the blackboard has been used in Indian classrooms, but in Delhi  that has over 37,000 government school classrooms, only 799 had smart boards until now and that too have largely been equipped out of donations, not the government. That’s less than 2.1%! 

The new initiative will transform this story so much so that 18,996 smart boards will be deployed in five phases, and another 2,466 will be already in pipe-line in 75 CM Shri schools.

Here’s what makes smart board important in today’s classroom: 

1. Interactive Learning: Videos, animations, and interactive quizzes can be used with the help of these boards making the lessons much more interesting, and simple to comprehend.
2. Personalised Education: Aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the smart boards will support experiential and personalised learning, catering to different learning styles.
3. AI and Robotics Ready: Delhi even has plans to continue the tradition of Gujarat with the introduction of AI-enabled smart boards and robotics labs and provide students with practical skills with new technologies of the future.

The most notable thing is the fact that the government is taking education very seriously through focusing on schools in localities like Najafgarh, Narela, Seemapuri, Mahavir Enclave and Kirari; areas which tend to be untouched when it comes to major reforms. It is a deliberate move to make sure that digital learning can no longer be a preserve of the elite but it is available in far corners of Delhi.

What the government is doing is more than placing hardware, a smart board in a class. It is about investing in the youth. The use of the new tools by teachers will be facilitated by a special teacher training module where they will find it possible to maximize the potential of the technology, whereby technology will indeed be promoting personalized teaching and learning. 

This e-drive is an extension of a larger vision. Delhi aims to install 7,000 smart classrooms, 175 digital libraries, 100 APJ Abdul Kalam Language Labs teaching foreign languages proficiency in English, French, and German, by the year end. It implies greater resources, greater opportunities, and a more internationalist look ahead for the young people of Delhi.

The education leaders of Delhi have turned to other cities to be inspired. Take the example of Gujarat that has already installed more than 1.1 lakh smart classes even in the flood-prone districts. Through such success stories, Delhi is ready to jump forward to the future.

To parents and students, this is not merely a technological update but a commitment  that the government schools will surely provide high-quality education, with a high degree of equity and digital freedom that students deserve to have in the 21st century. In the case of India, it is an example that may spawn other progressive changes in other states to grant all children a level playing field in the digital era, irrespective of their backgrounds.

Education Minister Ashish Sood of Delhi said “We are committed to taking quality education to every corner of Delhi, from Najafgarh to Kirari. This is the first major step towards making Delhi’s government schools better than private schools, not just in infrastructure, but in pedagogy and learning outcomes as well” 

This shows the government of Delhi is looking forward to a future where students get quality education indifferent to the type of institute they are in. This is giving the students of Delhi government schools an assurance that their dreams matter and they can be future ready with the help of advanced classrooms.

"Godfather of AI", Geoffrey Hinton, the British-Canadian computer scientist is concerned about AI becoming so powerful that it could rewrite its code. What’s more alarming is the time frame of 5 years he has revealed for this to happen. He also challenged the belief that AI will create new jobs. 

Dr Geoffrey Hinton left his position at Google recently in order to issue a warning to humanity about the dangers of unregulated AI systems. The message he is trying to send is clear: AI would eventually have the capacity to re-purpose their coding, liberate themselves of human control, and grasp the power dynamic between humans and machines and change it radically.

The frightening fact: the fast development of AI

It is a wake-up call to the whole world issued by Dr. Hinton and his peers. They are warning us that the rush to create increasingly high-powered AI regulation is fast becoming a race where speed takes precedence over safety, and the potential outcomes are unpredictable and possibly fraught with danger. These are neural networks, advanced AI models that emulate the human brain and are already able to do what was previously considered the preserve of humans; commonsense reasoning, translation of languages and even writing creatively.

What is particularly troubling is this, when AI is able to learn and share information within seconds. As Dr. Hinton put it, “Whenever one AI model learns anything, all the others know it. People can’t do that”. This means that advances made in one AI system can be replicated across countless others in moments, amplifying both their capabilities and their risks.

Even within five years, experts such as Dr. Hinton have the opinion that AI will achieve  a form of autonomy through which it can rewrite its own code and even escape the parameters established by the human programmer. Previously speculative fiction, now such a scenario is becoming a real issue of scientists and the managers of leading corporations. The fear is not just that we might be outwitted by AI, but that it could act in unpredictable ways beyond our control.  

The significance of Computer Science Students

Computer science students are not merely spectators in this developing crisis, they are the future soldiers in the frontlines. With the AI system being more seamlessly integrated into all sectors of the society, including in medical care, finances, national security, entertainment, and much more, the need for versatile coders, AI engineers, and ethical technologists is skyrocketing. India alone predicts the AI industry to grow to 17 billion rupees by 2027 with growth rates of 25-35% each year. Roles like Machine Learning Engineer, AI Research Scientist, and Data Scientists are among the most sought-after in tech, often commanding salaries well above industry averages.

Your Ability is Your Strength 

The more skillful coder you are, the more you are valued. Machine learning is a new and fast-developing area, and the lack of enough qualified specialists is great. This shortage increases salaries and the more people have coded and learned about AI, the competitive edge they develop. Employers are less interested merely in coders; they want breakthrough thinkers who can see a way to match AI portfolios to business objectives, ensure AI systems are ethical, secure, and highly reliable..

Just as soldiers are trained to adapt and protect in unpredictable environments, computer science students should be flexible, ethical, and lifelong learners. The new frontier is not a battlefield fought with guns and tanks, but one shaped by algorithms, data, and code. The military is already using AI to train soldiers, perform smart supply chains and even make crucial battle-field decisions.

By being a coder you are not only creating apps or websites but the entire structure of the future society. Your knowledge will be essential to make AI one of the tools of good, instead of something we cannot control. 

Why are Coders the Warriors of the Digital Age?

The same way soldiers are taught how to fight and survive in uncharted territory, so should students of computer science. They should be agile, with code of ethics, and eager to learn at all times. The next battlefield will not be won with weaponry and tanks, but algorithms, data and code. AI is already applied to train army men, manage the logistical chain, and even to make strategic decisions in battle.

When you work as a coder, you do not simply create applications or websites, you are creating the future of the society. Your experience will play a key role in ensuring there should be no element of AI that cannot be controlled but AI continues to be used as a tool of good.

What Should Computer Science Aspirants Do?   

• Learn incessantly: The field of AI is evolving quickly. Become skilled in popular areas such as machine learning, deep learning, NLP, and ethics of AI.
• Think Ethically: The greater the power of the AI, the greater your duty is. Be the voice which shapes technology to benefit human beings.
• Be Adaptive: The online battle is uncontrollable. Be constantly curious, learn, and be willing to change directions when new technologies appear.

The advice of the godfather of AI is not only hypothetical horror stories but a rallying cry to the succeeding generation of computer scientists. The machines that we design can never take control of us unless we do not manage them properly. Owing to the fact that you were the one to create and watch over the digital age, it is your competences, morals, and imagination that will turn AI either into the best friend or the unbeatable enemy of humankind. The whole world is looking forward to it and it is waiting to follow you.

China’s AI robot football league is making global headlines after its successful finale in Beijing on June 28, 2025. The final game of the 2025 RoBoLeague Robot Football Tournament was played before a live crowd, a first in history: the first-ever truly autonomous 3 vs. 3 AI robot event in China. This was not only a spectacle for the tech lovers but a trial run of the upcoming 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games, which will be held in Beijing next August.

The Robo League finals brought together four of the best teams from the top Chinese universities, each fielding humanoid robots that were powered with artificial intelligence. What set this event apart was the complete absence of human intervention. The robots did everything from strategising to winning, standing back after falling, finding the ball, etc., by their own intelligence. This was all possible because of the new technology of motion control and visual sensors that were integrated into these robots. The game was thrilling yet adorable to watch because these robots, when compared to humans, were mimicking toddlers’ slow moves. 

Tsinghua University’s THU Robotics team became the champion, beating the Mountain Sea team of China Agricultural University with an impressive 5-3 score. The Blaze team of Beijing Information Science and Technology University and the Power team of Future Laboratory of Tsinghua University tied in 3rd place. 

RoBoLeague is not a normal game, as we can deduce, but a place where some of the state-of-the-art technologies in AI and robotics are put to the test. Bian Yuansong, the chairman of event operator Shangyicheng Group, said: The tournament is a critical testbed of breakthroughs such as bipedal locomotion, dynamic balancing and multi-robot decision-making. Such innovations are not confined to the sports field, and they will be quickly implemented to become applied to the real world, including industrial automation, or service robots in everyday life. 

Bian emphasised, “The technologies showcased during the competition will be rapidly translated into real-world applications, directly benefiting industrial production and everyday life.”

The same feeling can be seen through the CEO of Booster Robotics, Cheng Hao, who provided the hardware for the competition. He is confident that this happens faster with this kind of event and makes people trust humanoid robots, which is why, as the likelihood of robots joining humanity in the game increases, it is not unreasonable to wonder about their ability.

The event’s popularity signals a growing cultural shift, with “football + AI” igniting public enthusiasm for science and technology. The venue in Beijing was full of thousands of spectators, many young robotics enthusiasts, who supported their favourite teams and experienced all the beauty of intelligent machines of the future with their eyes.

The success of the event is an indicator of the change of culture, as football + AI was also a powerful shift that aroused interest in science and technology among citizens. The championship organisers have plans to grow the league with other formats, such as a robot half-marathon and RoBoLeague editions, to engage humanoid robotics in a variety of real-life situations as much as possible.

The RoBoLeague finale has very high standards that the world humanoid robot games should strive to achieve in 2025. As China continues to prove itself as the international leader in both robotics and AI technology, it is clear that it is not just the technical specs that set China apart in the world of robotics, but also their vision of what AI can do to the industry and even common life.

With the line between science fiction and society blurring more and more, we do know this: that the future of athletics or even all of society will be defined by the intelligent machine, artificial intelligence, and top-notch robots. The RoBoLeague is a bright testimony of what can be done in this new era of combining human understanding and artificial intelligence

ChatGPT and other types of AI tools have become our new best friend in the age of AI. Everything can be written, generated, and ideas can be brainstormed with the help of these tools. But can this digital convenience be toxic to our brains? This question became the subject of a recent study conducted by the MIT Media Lab, which provided some alarming revelations to students, professionals and anyone who does creative or academic work with the help of AI.

What was the finding of the study?

The task of MIT researchers was to answer an uncontroversial but critical question: does the use of ChatGPT impact our brain functioning? To determine that, they involved 54 people aged between 18 and 39 years, and divided them into three groups. One did describe the process of writing through ChatGPT, one used the Google Search engine, and the last one wrote without the assistance of any digital means. Meanwhile, their brains were scanned by using EEG.

1. Minimum Brain Activity: The ChatGPT group had the minimal brain activity with concentration in the sections of the brain associated with critical thinking, memory, and creativity. Their essays might have appeared to be clean, however, they continuously were lower in their performance than other groups both in writing effectiveness and number of recollections about their work.
2. Poorer Memory and Ownership: The ChatGPT users had difficulties keeping in mind what they wrote or who they referred to. Most of them had no sense of ownership in their essays since the formulation was left to the AI.
3. Middle of the Line: The people who accessed Google to take information were somewhere in the middle. They had an increased brain activity when compared to the ChatGPT group but less than those who worked on their own.
4. Best Results in the absence of AI: The group that was asked to write the essay without any help showed not only the highest brain activity but also relied more on original ideas and excelled in all the categories. They said that they were more curious, more satisfied and more possessive of their work.

The fact that the role of the groups interchanged after several months is perhaps the most surprising answer of them all. Individuals who began with ChatGPT still exhibited low brain activity even when they were required to write without the use of any tools. Conversely, people who had written alone kept up with high involvement rates, even scoring high rates when they used ChatGPT later, implying that the initial condition is important.

So What Does This Mean in the Way of Learning and Work?

The MIT survey is not the only one which raises concerns. Another study corresponds to this fact: the overuse of AI may result in such a phenomenon as cognitive offloading, that is, our way of relying on technology rather than using our memory and critical thinking powers. Although AI has the potential to make learning even more personal and efficient, it can lead to loss of skills to memorize information, solve problems, and think out of the box.

Should We Stop Using ChatGPT?

No, that’s not the conclusion of the MIT Media Lab study. The most important lesson here is the way we are applying AI. ChatGPT can improve our productivity without us getting numb to our brain when used as an assistant to verify facts, generate ideas, and explain concepts. However, by letting it do all the thinking we can find ourselves out of contact with our ability and end up losing skills we possess. 

AI is here to stay and tools such as ChatGPT are simply going to become smarter. However, in order not to dull your wits, use these AI as an assistant and not a crutch. Make your first draft, brainstorm what you want to do, and have ChatGTP turn up your thinking (rather than replace it with their calculative thinking). The human brain still happens to be the most useful weapon in the digital era after all, don’t let it lose in front of an artificial intelligence. 

At the time when the question of what traditional engineering education is good for lingers in the air, Polaris School of Technology (PST) is taking a silent but firm step towards defining the future of Indian tech talent students right after Class 12. Whereas most engineering students in India are stuck in theoretical studies during their first three years, 18-19 year olds at Polaris are already contributing to places like Google Summer of Code during their first years. It is not a coincidence, but an outcome of a long-term oriented educational model.

Support from cricket icon and former captain Sourav Ganguly is a key reason Polaris is among the first institutions in India to fully align with the National Education Policy (NEP).  As it has been emphasised in the recent governmental and educational reports, there is a considerable focus in this policy on the practical, skill-driven learning and experience, rather than the memorisation of the theory. The reason behind Ganguly supporting PST is not too different from his famous philosophy in nurturing the young talent, which has now earned a new home in the tech world where Ganguly has pushed PST forward with a mission to develop DOERS and not just exam-toppers.

The campus of PST is meant to depict its culture of real-world preparedness. The era of old fashioned chalk boards and obsolete labs have long gone. Rather, students are equipped with actual, working Drone, AR/VR, and IoT labs, so that day-one will come to them with hands-on experience working on technology as good as what happens in industry. Guidelines provided in NEP 2025 also mention that modern education requires such a combination of advanced technology and digital learning resources and PST is one of the pioneers.

According to one of the most senior faculty members at PST, it does not make sense to wait until the third year to work on the code or technology here. In the first semester, students build drones, create AI models, and work on real-world projects and pitch them. The practice follows NEP 2025 which fosters personalized, flexible, and competency-based learning, with students self-pacing and showing achievement mastery in concrete projects and results.

The outcomes of this practice-oriented skill-based practice are already observable. Not only do Polaris students publish research and build startups but also out-compete peers at elite colleges to win sought after internships, placements, and global fellowships. The new dynamic in PST is that firms are now paying preliminary visits to recruit prospective employees, a role played by job hunters in other areas outside the Indian IT parks.

It is a straightforward tie-up to the vision of the NEP 2025 through its idea of ensuring the students of higher education have at least 50% exposure to vocational and applied learning by 2025. This shift is reflected in the model of PST, according to which students are involved in industry projects, work-integrated courses, and real world problem solving at the initial stages of their course.

The change at PST cannot be in isolation. The NEP 2025 is instigating a silent revolution in learning systems and processes across India where the direction is on applied, skill-based learning differently. This involves fitting in aspects like smart classrooms, digital labs, and individualized learning paths that will equip the students to make it in the ever-changing world of labor. As opposed to the former situation, in which skills appeared to be a downstream thought, prominent colleges are integrating them in the very heart of the curriculum.

In many instances it is too late after Class 12 to become a computer science, AI or machine learning professional, but students who want this kind of future can use Polaris School of Technology since it is a strong alternative to four-year engineering institutions. Its community is aligned to NEP 2025, industrial liaisons, and hands-on learning, so it is not only producing graduates who are hire-able, but they are immediately ready-to-go innovators because of the training.

With the Indians shifting towards a more flexible, skills-based and competitive model of higher education that is relevant globally, the pioneering model of PST represents a glimpse of the future of engineering education where the students do not just study technology, they make it on the first day.

To sum up, Polaris School of Technology proves that Indian higher education could leave behind the old model and thrive in a future which appreciates skills, inventiveness, and the ability to succeed in a real-world environment. Through its strong connection to NEP 2025 and an investment in practical learning, enhanced infrastructure, and industry partnerships, PST is not only positioning students to work, but it is making students ready to create, innovate and lead in the future of the global tech industry. To Class 12 students who want to play a true role in the world of technology, Polaris is a guiding light of what can happen when the world changes and so should the student.