IIT Guwahati hosts first care conference on data science and AI to shape responsible AI development in India
GUWAHATI: IIT Guwahati wrapped up its first CARE Conference on Data Science and AI, where experts discussed how India can lead responsibly in AI and shared insights for an upcoming AI vision document. Insights from the conference will contribute to an upcoming AI Vision Document, which will outline a framework for responsible, inclusive, and future-ready AI development in India.The CARE Conference is planned as an annual event to strengthen collaborative research networks by bringing together leading global universities like MIT, Purdue University, UC San Diego, Penn State, and UT Dallas, along with India’s IITs, IISERs, and NITs.The Mehta Family School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at IIT Guwahati hosted the first Collaborative for Academic Research Excellence (CARE) Conference on Data Science and AI from December 8 to 10. This event was a major step in bringing together India’s academic, industry, and policy strengths to shape the future of responsible and impactful AI.Rahul Mehta, Founder of the Mehta Family Foundation, said the conference showcased the ambition of India’s AI research ecosystem by bringing together global experts with Indian institutions to advance a blueprint for national AI leadership. Prof. Ratnajit Bhattacharjee, Head of the Mehta Family School and Convener of the Conference, noted that the discussions reflected the growing research capacity in foundational algorithms, generative architectures, and AI for societal impact.Supported by the Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta Family Foundation, the three-day conference gathered global faculty, researchers, and industry leaders. Through technical talks, panel discussions, industry sessions, poster presentations, and flash talks, participants explored new advances in AI and the growing societal and scientific questions from its use.Experts discussed the fast development of next-generation AI models, including topics like generative modeling, explainability, hallucination-resistant architectures, and sharpness-aware learning. Speakers from Purdue University, IISERs, and other top institutions shared theoretical frameworks and model-based approaches to improve transparency and reliability in modern AI systems.Healthcare and biomedicine were key themes. Researchers shared progress in AI-driven diagnostics, biomedical modeling, radiology workflows, and expert-guided learning systems for clinical decision-making. A panel on AI for biomedical applications summarised these discussions, highlighting opportunities and research gaps India needs to address to build an integrated health-tech ecosystem.Sessions also looked at AI’s role in engineering, robotics, and infrastructure. Faculty from Purdue University, IISER Thiruvananthapuram, IIT Indore, and others discussed developments in behaviourally intelligent robots, AI-assisted quantum algorithms, seismic modeling, and cybersecurity. These talks showed the growing convergence of data science, high-performance computing, and engineering research shaping India’s future technical capabilities.Another focus was the application of machine learning to cryptanalysis, data assimilation, and dynamical systems. Presentations from DRDO and academic experts showed how new mathematical tools are enhancing cryptographic resilience and improving the modeling of complex physical phenomena.
