AI Hero: Kriti
Kriti grew up in the state of Rajasthan, in northern India. She had a happy childhood with supportive parents who encouraged her to learn and be independent. But even with that kind of encouragement, nobody would have guessed then that Kriti was going to be recognized later in her life as one of the 30 under 30 by Forbes for advancements in AI.
Like many other AI heroes you will get to know in this book, Kriti’s attitude toward her constraints defined her. She didn’t have access to a computer or the internet beyond the 10 computers available in her school for thousands of students, but she did have access to the library, which opened up an entire world of knowledge for her. At the age of 12 she built her own computer, putting together different parts she’d acquired for a few dollars.
When she was still a teenager, she was invited to visit a government space research lab. Kriti was fascinated by space exploration and how computers can help us analyze the huge amount of data gathered about the universe to understand it better. But that wasn’t what captured her imagination the most: it was how a particular researcher was using one of the computers that changed her life. Instead of a keyboard or mouse, this researcher was using voice commands to control their computer. From that moment, she knew she wanted one of those computers (at that time the size of a room!) for herself.
It was the same independent streak and desire to learn that took her to university—a remarkable ...
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