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"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. 

It is a year when scientists of Indian origin are making world headlines, and the win of Eshan Chattopadhyay in the 2025 Godel Prize is a remarkable achievement. This is an impressive scientific story and a major accomplishment of the theoretical computer science field as well as in the bigger context of the Indian academic world in general. This IIT-Kanpur alumnus solved a 30-year-old problem and bagged the prestigious Godel Prize for his 2016 paper, 'Explicit Two-Source Extractors and Resilient Functions'. 

Here is everything you need to know about this accomplishment, how it is significant, and what it represents to students, UPSC aspirants, and anyone who looks out to see what Indian science is doing in the international arena that is leading India’s path to be Vishwaguru once again.

Who is Eshan Chattopadhyay?

Eshan Chattopadhyay is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Cornell University, and a graduate of IIT Kanpur, the name that echoes with every Indian engineering student. He graduated with his PhD degree in 2016 at the University of Texas at Austin, after graduating with BTech in IIT Kanpur in 2011. His scholastic experience extends to post-doctoral associateships at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing at UC Berkeley. The work of Chattopadhyay revolves around pseudorandomness, circuit complexity and communication complexity, which are vital to the foundation of modern computing.  

This Godel Price is not the only award won by Eshan; he has also won NSF Computer and Information Science and Engineering Research Initiation Initiative award in 2019, NSF CAREER award in 2021, and in 2023 the Sloan Research Fellowship.

What is the Godel Prize and Why is it So Prestigious?

The Godel Price, named in honor of legendary logician Kurt Godel, is one of the most prestigious awards in theoretical computer science. It is presented jointly by the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (EATCS) and ACM SIGACT, and it honours breakthrough work that establishes a foundation of knowledge by advancing the field.

Godel prize is an annual award with $5,000 prize money. To be eligible for this prize, one must have a paper published within the last 14 years. Past winners include giants whose work has shaped cryptography, algorithms, and complexity theory.  

After winning the prestigious award, Eshan Chattopadhyay said, “This recognition is truly an incredible honour. The Gödel Prize has celebrated some of the most beautiful and foundational work in our field. It feels surreal and deeply gratifying that our paper is being placed in that category.”

The Winning Work: solving a 30-year old puzzle

Chattopadhyay, together with his PhD advisor David Zuckerman, was awarded the 2025 Godel Prize  for the paper they published in the year 2016 titled, “Explicit Two-Source Extractors and Resilient Functions”. This academic paper meant more than a research work because it actually solved a problem that researchers had been struggling to solve for almost thirty years!

The Problem: 

The issue of randomness is everything in computer science and cryptography. However, the real world does not offer as much randomness. The majority of sources, such as hardware noise or the weak input of the user, which is to say they are not actually random. Here was the issue: How can two weak sources be combined to produce strong, reliable randomness?

The Breakthrough: 

They were the ones who showed for the first time how to construct an explicit two-source extractor that works even when both sources have a bit of randomness; technically, just polylogarithmic min-entropy. This is new because earlier every method that has been known with regards to this, required each source to be nearly half-random, which is a big amount. Not only did their technique completely resolve the randomness extraction problem, it also provided new avenues in the fields of complexity theory, cryptography and the construction of resilient Boolean functions.

Why Should This Matter?

1. Cybersecurity: Secure encryption, digital signatures and safe online transactions rely on reliable randomness.
2. Distributed Computing: Randomness aids in constructing systems that are fault-tolerant and can construct robust communication protocols.
3. Mathematics: These methods produced better explicit Ramsey graph constructions, an important combinatorial and theoretical computer science problem. 

Why is this a Special Win to India?

This success proves Chattopadhyay is an example of world-leading talent that can be produced by Indian institutions such as IIT Kanpur. It is a moment of pride among the Indian diaspora that demonstrates that the researchers of Indian-origin are not only subjects of the world's scientific progress but are heads of it. This has been called a “shining milestone” by the IIT Kanpur alumni community.

Takeaway For UPSC Aspirants and Students

• Interdisciplinary Impact: The contribution combines the fields of mathematics, computer science, and actual cybersecurity and demonstrates how maximal generating research leads to actual innovation.
• Persistence Pays: It is a lesson in resourcefulness and hope to find the solution to a problem after 30 years of worldwide endeavor.
• Vishwaguru Bharat: Scientists of Indian origin are hitting headlines across the globe proving once again that the genes of our intelligence still reside within us, and when manifested correctly, it can lead us to be at the top of the world as Vishwaguru.

If you are an aspiring or current UPSC student, or someone who loves to keep up with the latest Indian news on Indian accomplishments, the life story of Eshan Chattopadhyay is a tale of visions, perseverance, and of the worldwide impact of Indian talent in the future technology. 

According to recent reports and internal memos, Google is, in fact, trying to make its employees adopt artificial intelligence (AI) as one of its central business areas. This is not merely gossip or floating idealistic fantasy, but is rather an official strategic change that is already transforming the workforce training, product development, and not the least, the composition of a workforce.

The Voluntary Buyouts, not Layoffs, by Google

This month, June 2025, Google is offering “Voluntary Exit Program” aka voluntary buyouts to thousands of its employees in the US, covering major divisions, such as its Knowledge and Information (K&I) organization, a unit that includes the company flagship Search, Ads, and Commerce businesses, and the core engineering and marketing, research and communications groups. This is in the wake of the possible layoff of 2023 where Google sacked 12,000 employees worldwide.

Such buyouts unlike standard lay offs are being framed as a friendly outing option to the employees who do not feel aligned with the new direction at Google or find it hard to fulfill the new demands of their current position. This was made very clear by Nick Fox, the leader of the K&I group, stating that “If you’re excited about your work, energized by the opportunity ahead, and performing well, I really (really!) hope you don’t take this! We have ambitious plans and tons to get done”.

What is the Buyout Package?

Although specific figures are not revealed, the buyouts involved up to 14 weeks of pay and an extra week per year of tenure in the case of midlevel to top-level employees in the company in the past. The present VEP has comparable severance packages, which offers a soft land at the hands of employees willing to leave.

Google’s AI First Approach

Google has completely reinvented its internal learning platform, Grow, to essentially offer training that is entirely AI-oriented. As per a report by India Today, courses that were not AI-related, such as personal finance to 3D printing, are canned, and the company claims that only sessions that are directly linked to business priorities shall be offered. The aim of this move is to assist in the process of the employees learning how to incorporate the latest AI instruments in their daily routine and utilize them more effectively to support the new strategic focus of Google.

CEO Sundar Pichai has been frank in the messages, informing employees that 2025 will be an important year to Google and that they need to put more efforts into artificial intelligence and regulatory concerns. He has emphasized on the fact that attention needs to be given to AI to keep abreast with the race and also to solve some genuine problems faced by users.

Gemini, the AI flagship product of Google, as well as the agent-based product NotebookLM Plus, which are both AI-based products, falls at the heart of the company outlining its 2025 vision. The company is moving team members and resources to hasten the advancement of AI and integration into its suite of products.

Additionally, Google is encouraging employees at some of its divisions, especially those that are less relevant to its AI-first agenda, to offer voluntary buyouts. It is clear in internal memos that the employees not motivated or not aligned with these new priorities are welcome to consider the exit program.

What Is The Motive Behind This Step Of Google?

The AI competitions have been going on with Google struggling to gain the lead with giants like Microsoft, Apple among others as well as smaller start-ups in the field. Internally Sergey Brin, one of the co-founders of the company, has claimed that achievement of artificial general intelligence (AGI) is achievable by employees working much harder and particularly collaborating more inside the workplace.

At the same time, the company is reducing its expenses, reducing the number of employees and optimization of operations. The direction of investment is AI infrastructure. Those programs and benefits that are not directly linked to AI or business results are phased out as well. also, the rising regulation pressure and the need to be more innovative every day prompts Google to look at AI as the contingency to continue to hold the leadership position.

Moreover, Google is not acting alone. Already, almost 75,000 jobs have been lost in the tech sector so far in 2025 as employers rebalance to the impact of AI and evolving market conditions. On the professional side, it translates to the fact that flexibility, constant learning, and the ability to adjust to new technologies are paramount now.

The AI Alignment of Google: The Implication to Professionals and Aspirants

If you are a Current Employee, know that there will be AI tools and practices for upskilling mandates. Non-AI roles and programs are being deprioritized or eliminated. It is also clear that the people who might be energized and aligned to the vision of the AI-first are invited to stay and to continue to develop; people who might not like the vision are being offered exit options.

If you are a Job Seeker and or an  aspirant, know that in Google, AI literacy has become a prerequisite in most positions. The company will rely more on hiring and training those who have a proven set of AI capabilities or those who can exert an effort to settle their jobs out of some new technologies. Google evolves as a warning to the rest of the technology industry: cooperation with AI is not an alternative anymore but a need. 

In short, the Voluntary Exit Program speaks for itself, Google clearly requested its staff to follow AI, both in ideology and in reality. Redesigned training processes and team restructuring, explicit requests to concentrate and be proactive by the top management, everything indicates that the future has become AI-first. It can be considered as a challenge and opportunity especially to professionals and aspirants: those who are open to AI will do well, and those who are not may be sidelined.