Beyond Chatbots: IIT Madras, Google DeepMind experts discuss AI's real-world challenges at Plaksha University

• ConfAI 2026 brings over 500 researchers, students and industry professionals to Mohali; discussions focus on AI safety, healthcare, inclusive technologies and practical applications

MOHALI: Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly powerful, but making it reliable, fair and useful in the real world remains a challenge. From evaluating the safety of AI systems to developing technologies that work across languages and communities, these questions were at the centre of ConfAI 2026, a three-day conference that concluded at Plaksha University in Mohali on November 1, bringing together over 500 researchers, students and industry professionals.

“India needs to build its own AI capabilities, not merely adopt technologies developed elsewhere. Universities must connect research across disciplines with the real problems our society faces,” said Prof. Rudra Pratap, Vice Chancellor, Plaksha University.

Prof. Balaraman Ravindran, Head of the Department of Data Science and AI at IIT Madras, highlighted the limitations of existing methods used to assess AI systems. In his keynote on AI governance, he examined why accuracy alone cannot determine whether an AI system is trustworthy, particularly when its responses may change depending on how questions are framed. His presentation drew attention to the need for more rigorous evaluation of safety, fairness and reliability as AI increasingly influences important decisions.

Dr. Manish Gupta, Vice President at Google DeepMind, discussed advances in foundation models and their potential applications, from improving AI's understanding of different languages and cultures to using satellite imagery for agriculture. He also highlighted the challenges of making these technologies safer, fairer and more accessible. In a conversation with students, Gupta emphasised the importance of “learning to learn, always,” encouraging them to remain curious and adapt as technologies continue to evolve.

Organised by Plaksha University's Harish & Bina Shah School of AI & Computer Science, the conference featured research spanning healthcare, robotics, urban systems and responsible AI. Presentations explored AI-based approaches to early detection of Alzheimer's disease, robots that learn from human demonstrations, and applications of AI in drug design and urban planning.

A panel titled “Beyond Chatbots: Bridging the Gap Between AI Use and Real-World Impact in India” examined why AI systems that perform well in controlled environments can be difficult to deploy in healthcare, agriculture, education and small businesses, where limited data, diverse languages and resource constraints present additional challenges.

Other prominent speakers included Prof. Parag Singla of IIT Delhi, Prof. Ponnurangam Kumaraguru of IIIT Hyderabad, Padma Shri awardee Dr. Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, former Director of ISI Kolkata, and Prof. Santanu Chaudhury of Ashoka University.

Spread across eight research tracks, ConfAI 2026 brought together academic and industry perspectives through keynote addresses, panel discussions, oral presentations and poster sessions, while providing students and young researchers an opportunity to engage with leading experts in artificial intelligence.

About Plaksha University:

Founded by a global community of more than 100 technology and business leaders, Plaksha envisions reimagining technology education and research for India and the world. With strong partnerships with UC Berkeley, Purdue, UC San Diego, Cornell University, Penn Engineering, IIT Kanpur and IISc Bengaluru, Plaksha aims to nurture and empower a generation of catalytic leaders and create an ecosystem of research and innovation. The university collapses the traditional boundaries of engineering and promotes interdisciplinary learning by combining technology, design and entrepreneurship.

Plaksha is guided by an eminent academic board including Vijay Kumar, Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering, University of Pennsylvania; Prof. S Shankar Sastry, Thomas Siebel Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, Venkatesh Narayanamurthi, former Dean of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; Sriram Rajamani, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Research India; Julia Ross, Dean of Engineering, Virginia Tech; Krishna Palepu, Ross Graham Walker Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; Sanjay Sarma, Fred Fort Flowers and Daniel Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering, MIT; and business leaders such as Neeraj Aggarwal, Vice-Chair, Asia-Pacific at Boston Consulting Group; Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises; Hitesh Oberoi, Co-promoter &; CEO, Info Edge (Naukri.com); Alok Mittal, Cofounder and Executive Chairman, Indifi Technologies Pvt Ltd; Manas Human, Co- Founder, Nagarro; Prashanth Prakash, Partner, Accel; Subrata Mitra, Partner, Accel; Ritesh Malik, Founder and CEO, Innov8; Dalip Pathak, Special Limited Partner, Warburg Pincus LLC; Srikanth Velamakanni, Cofounder and Group CEO, Fractal; Pramod Bhasin, Chairman, Clix Capital among others. Corporate donors include companies like Bharti Airtel Foundation, Axis Bank, Indorama Ventures, Havells, Harish and Bina Shah Foundation, Binny Bansal, Co-founder Flipkart and founder Xto10x, HT Parekh Foundation, Mphasis, Info Edge, and Motilal Oswal. The global community of business leaders who founded Plaksha can be seen here.