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Can machines think? It is a thought that is loaded with implications both of the physical and metaphysical types. For long, scientists and philosophers have debated on the issue of whether it is possible for a machine to be 'conscious' and if it is a good thing or not. The debate heated up with the emergence of computers on the scene in the middle of the twentieth century. Philosophers pooh-poohed the notion, fiction writers warned against it and scientist were working towards it.

Sometime around 1950, Alan Turing, referred to as the father of modern computer science, devised a 'test' that machines could undergo in order to classify whether they were seemingly intelligent or not. Called the Turing test, and based on a popular game of those times, all the machine had to do was fool an observer into believing that it was not a machine, but a human, through a series of interactions over chat. Till date none of the machines has been able to pass the Turing test convincingly.

The Soft Side
Yet, in many ways, the Turing challenge sets off a race for intelligence, or more precisely, artificial intelligence (AI). AI is a branch of computer science that deals with writing computer programs that can solve problems creatively; namely, workers in AI hope to imitate or duplicate intelligence in computers and robots.

Rajendra Sonar at his office in IIT-B, working towards an 'intelligent' future

While much of the focus has been on developing intelligent machines, robots like Aiko and Aibo, there has been an intelligent revolution on the software front. The software that manage huge databases, like in banks and retail stores, are increasingly becoming 'intelligent', sniffing out scams before they happen or place an order for a product before the stock is depleted. Using artificial intelligence techniques, these software and platforms have evolved into more sophisticated products and are clubbed under the tag of business intelligence.

Over the last few decades, big universities like MIT and Stanford have set up special labs on artificial intelligence, where a whole breed of engineers and scientists are pitting their wits. Traditionally, renowned universities have been the germinating ground for innovative ideas and that is quite the case at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B), where a professor has founded a company in the AI space.

I(ndia)Ken too
Rajendra M Sonar, PhD, assistant professor, SJMSOM, IIT-B, has launched iKen Solutions under the aegis of SINE Incubator. IIT-Bombay's SINE Incubator helps students, professors, and alumni develop and commercialize their business ideas. As of now around fifteen ventures are developing at the SINE campus, ranging from robotics to AI in the case of iKen. "I am truly happy about the way IIT and SINE has funded my venture. It has let me commercialize my idea, else it would have been quite difficult," says Sonar.

iKen Solutions is a software product and solution company providing tools and solutions to develop knowledge-based business applications and decision support systems based on or enhanced with integrated AI techniques across verticals. Sonar and his team have developed a Web-based integrated development environment to develop enterprise applications and decision support systems backed by or enhanced with hybrid AI. They have named this environment as iKen Studio, and it supports integrated architectures of intelligent techniques, namely, expert system, neural network and case-based reasoning along with analytical methods.

"The iKen Studio is very adaptable to different scenarios. For instance, we have adapted it on a mobile company's platform; it sits on top of the WAP site, acting as a business intelligence software," he says. "This solution is one of the first AI studios that is completely Web-based, and works on an Application Server Protocol (ASP) model. There is no specific database requirement either, and can be easily plugged to any operational database. It is a kind of Salesforce.com model that we are working on."

AI in India
On being asked for his views on the evolution of AI in India vis-à-vis the movement happening across the globe, he says, "We are steadily catching up, especially in the software domain. I see a lot of companies nowadays actively using AI techniques in their products; companies like Subex or 3i Infotech are good examples." He also believes that Indian companies need to change their mindset when it comes to working in specialized domain like AI product development. "The returns are not instant as in services industry, and one needs a lot of patience and vision," says Sonar.

Entrepreneur vs Academician
Sonar is also a faculty at the management institute at IIT-B and divides his time between his students and iKen. "Fortunately for me, IIT encourages such venture, and, thus, I am able to devote my time and energy both to my job and venture. Sometimes it gets tough, but since I stay and work in the campus, I am able to manage it," he says. In the coming months, when he will not be working at the institute, he will completely immerse himself in iKen.

"I believe every academician in IIT should start a venture. It is a great way to share domain knowledge and expertise, and thus help the nation. And in the end, if all goes wrong, at least one has a job in hand," he says. "Thus, you could well say that it is a safe bet," he adds.

Gearing Up
The zealous entrepreneur seems to be gearing up for better things. Already iKen has developed two innovative applications, namely iKen.Push Technology and True Knowledge Delivery Portal that sit on top of iKen Studio. Sonar is very excited about the prospects. "True Knowledge Delivery portal will help to create, share and deliver knowledge rather than just information over the Internet. With this, any and every website can offer the same kind of functionality like that of Amazon.com. The prospects are really amazing," he says.

Already, iKen has secured funding to the tune of Rs 80 lakh, and has contracted clients like Cellent Technologies, Dena Bank (a pilot project), and others. Negotiations are on with an oil and gas major PSU and a mobile company as well.

iKen derives its name from a combination of two words, I stands for intelligence and 'ken' means a body of knowledge, thus, iKen means an intelligent body of knowledge and it seems that the company is realizing the name. Sonar 'can do it', after all.

Shashwat Chaturvedi
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in

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