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With the present state of development, Artificial Intelligence can effectively do which of the following ? 1. Bring down electricity consumption in industrial units 2. Create meaningful short stories and songs 3. Disease diagnosis 4. Text-to-Speech Conversion 5. Wireless transmission of electrical energy Select the correct answer using the code given below :
Explanation
The correct answer is Option 2 (1, 3 and 4 only). This question, appearing in the UPSC Civil Services Prelims (2020), evaluates the practical and industrial applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at its current stage of development.
- Statement 1: AI optimizes power grids and industrial machinery through predictive analytics, significantly reducing electricity consumption.
- Statement 3: AI algorithms excel in medical imaging and pattern recognition, enabling accurate disease diagnosis (e.g., detecting tumors or retinal diseases).
- Statement 4: Text-to-Speech conversion is a mature AI technology used widely in virtual assistants and accessibility tools.
Why Option 2 is correct: While AI can generate text, creating truly "meaningful" stories and songs (Statement 2) involves human-level creativity and consciousness, which remains a limitation. More importantly, Statement 5 (Wireless transmission of electrical energy) is a matter of physics and electrical engineering (like Inductive Coupling), not an AI function. Since Statement 5 is scientifically incorrect in the context of AI, options 1, 3, and 4 are excluded, making Option 2 the most accurate choice.
PROVENANCE & STUDY PATTERN
Guest previewThis is the classic 'Possibility Framework' question. It does not rely on a single book but on understanding the fundamental nature of AI: Optimization (Statement 1, 5), Generation (Statement 2, 4), and Pattern Recognition (Statement 3). If the tech involves data processing or system control, the answer is 'Yes'.
This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.
- Statement 1: As of 2020, can artificial intelligence effectively reduce electricity consumption in industrial units?
- Statement 2: As of 2020, can artificial intelligence generate meaningful short stories and songs?
- Statement 3: As of 2020, can artificial intelligence effectively perform disease diagnosis?
- Statement 4: As of 2020, can artificial intelligence effectively perform text-to-speech conversion?
- Statement 5: As of 2020, can artificial intelligence be used to perform wireless transmission of electrical energy (wireless power transfer)?
Notes rapid growth in energy demand and that power failures/load-shedding hurt industrial production, implying large industrial sensitivity to energy use and potential gains from demand reduction.
A student could infer that targeting industrial energy use (e.g., via AI-driven load management) would meaningfully affect reliability and output, so they should look for AI case studies in load-shedding reduction.
Describes heavy industrial uses of electricity (high-temperature electric furnaces in steelmaking), identifying specific, high-consumption processes that could be optimized.
A student could reason that AI applied to process control or predictive maintenance in such electric-heating processes might cut consumption and then search for measured savings in those applications.
States over two-thirds of the world's electricity supply comes from thermal plants mainly from industrial areas, indicating industry is a major electricity consumer globally.
Knowing industry is a dominant load, a student could estimate potential system-level impact if AI reduced industrial consumption by a plausible percent and compare that to national/sector energy figures.
Gives an example (daylight saving) of a policy change that reduces electricity use for lighting, showing that operational or scheduling changes can lower demand.
By analogy, a student can consider AI as an operational/scheduling tool (e.g., shifting loads, optimizing lighting/heating schedules) and seek evidence of similar demand reductions from AI interventions.
Mentions governmental initiatives aiming to 'decrease the power consumption', implying organized interventions can change consumption patterns.
A student could view AI as one type of intervention governments or firms might deploy and then investigate whether policy-driven or tech-driven programs (including AI) reported consumption decreases.
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This statement analysis shows book citations, web sources and indirect clues. The first statement (S1) is open for preview.
Login with Google to unlock all statements.
This statement analysis shows book citations, web sources and indirect clues. The first statement (S1) is open for preview.
Login with Google to unlock all statements.
This statement analysis shows book citations, web sources and indirect clues. The first statement (S1) is open for preview.
Login with Google to unlock all statements.
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