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Q68 (IAS/2020) Science & Technology › ICT, AI, Cybersecurity & Emerging Tech › AI applications Official Key

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 :

Result
Your answer:  ·  Correct: B
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.

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PROVENANCE & STUDY PATTERN
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Don’t just practise – reverse-engineer the question. This panel shows where this PYQ came from (books / web), how the examiner broke it into hidden statements, and which nearby micro-concepts you were supposed to learn from it. Treat it like an autopsy of the question: what might have triggered it, which exact lines in the book matter, and what linked ideas you should carry forward to future questions.
Q. With the present state of development, Artificial Intelligence can effectively do which of the following ? 1. Bring down electricity cons…
At a glance
Origin: Books + Current Affairs Fairness: Low / Borderline fairness Books / CA: 2/10 · 2/10
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This 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'.

How this question is built

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?
Origin: Weak / unclear Fairness: Borderline / guessy
Indirect textbook clues
Geography of India ,Majid Husain, (McGrawHill 9th ed.) > Chapter 8: Energy Resources > ENERGY CRISIS > p. 30
Strength: 4/5
“With the rapid growth of population and increase in the per capita income, there is an increasing demand for energy, especially that of conventional sources of energy. The consumption of energy in the country is increasing at the rate of more than 12% per annum. In the absence of energy, there are frequent power failures, load-shedding, closure of factories, etc., resulting in a decrease in industrial and agricultural production. In comparison to the developed countries, the per head consumption of electricity in the country is very low. For example, the per capita consumption of electricity in India is 350 kWh as against the world average of 1000 kWh and 7000 kWh in the U.S.A.”
Why relevant

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.

How to extend

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.

Science ,Class VIII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 4: Electricity: Magnetic and Heating Effects > Ever heard of ... > p. 54
Strength: 5/5
“Beyond household use, heating effect of electric current has several industrial applications. One notable example is in steel manufacturing industries, where a specially designed high-temperature furnace (an enclosed space built to generateheat) uses electric current to produce heat. This is used to melt and recycle scrap steel, converting it into usable steel. 54 Curiosity — Textbook of Science for Grade 8”
Why relevant

Describes heavy industrial uses of electricity (high-temperature electric furnaces in steelmaking), identifying specific, high-consumption processes that could be optimized.

How to extend

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.

Certificate Physical and Human Geography , GC Leong (Oxford University press 3rd ed.) > Chapter 27: Fuel and Power > World production and distribution of electricity. > p. 274
Strength: 4/5
“Over two-thirds of the world's electricity supply comes from thermal plants, mainly from the industrial areas. Fig. 27 .I1, shows the world production of hydro-electric power. The United States alone accounts for 3l%o of the world's annual electricity output, followed by the U.S.S.R., the United Kingdom, East and West Germany, France and Japan (Fig. 27.r2). As for hydro-electric power, it makes up only about a third of the world's electricity supply. The”
Why relevant

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.

How to extend

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.

Physical Geography by PMF IAS, Manjunath Thamminidi, PMF IAS (1st ed.) > Chapter 19: The Motions of The Earth and Their Effects > Daylight Saving in Temperate Regions > p. 254
Strength: 3/5
“Reduces evening use of incandescent lighting, which was formerly a primary use of electricity.• Disadvantages: DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel and sleep patterns.”
Why relevant

Gives an example (daylight saving) of a policy change that reduces electricity use for lighting, showing that operational or scheduling changes can lower demand.

How to extend

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.

Geography of India ,Majid Husain, (McGrawHill 9th ed.) > Chapter 8: Energy Resources > Governmental Initiatives: Power Sector > p. 24
Strength: 3/5
“decrease the power consumption.”
Why relevant

Mentions governmental initiatives aiming to 'decrease the power consumption', implying organized interventions can change consumption patterns.

How to extend

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.

Statement analysis

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Statement analysis

This statement analysis shows book citations, web sources and indirect clues. The first statement (S1) is open for preview.

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Statement analysis

This statement analysis shows book citations, web sources and indirect clues. The first statement (S1) is open for preview.

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Statement analysis

This statement analysis shows book citations, web sources and indirect clues. The first statement (S1) is open for preview.

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Micro-concepts

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