Sahar El Khoury (Moderator)
Organised by the Swiss Science Film Academy, the Global Science Film Festival is an annual event through which filmmakers and scientists connect and collaborate. The screenings, open to the public all over the world, includes films, documentaries, animations and shorts with the idea of sparking curiosity about the wonders of science and technology.
On November 8, we will be screening the documentary film AI As A Friend: Does A Chatbot Relationship Really Work? simultaneously in Bengaluru, New Delhi, Mumbai, Zurich, Shanghai, Osaka, Tokyo and Seoul. The 38-minute long film in the German language explores AI’s abilities to be a good flatmate, relationship partner and best friend.
The film asks questions by way of tracking five participants and their interactions with an AI chatbot over a period of three weeks. Will the relationship between man and AI always be like that of a master and servant? Or will AI chatbots become so integrated into our daily lives that conversations with them will feel natural? And what if an AI chatbot suddenly decides to challenge or deceive us?
This unique experiment was conducted by the Swiss broadcaster SRF as part of their popular science programme Einstein and the film is directed by Einstein hosts Kathrin Höneggar and Tobias Müller.
The screening will be followed by a hybrid panel discussion with filmmakers and science experts from each of the eight locations. Ranjith Jaganathan, an interdisciplinary cognitive scientist and adjunct faculty at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), will be the speaker from Bengaluru.
To attend the festival in New Delhi, request an invitation by writing to Dr. Indraneel Ghosh ([email protected]), and for Mumbai, reach out to Maitreyee Shirolkar ([email protected]).
Ranjith Jaganathan
Ranjith Jaganathan is an interdisciplinary cognitive scientist and adjunct faculty at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) in Bengaluru. His research spans multiple fields, including computational modelling, machine learning, visual perception, and cognitive neuroscience. He has explored various topics such as visual scene and emotional scene perception, visual word recognition, and psycholinguistics. Ranjith has also been involved in research on dementia, using machine learning and brain imaging techniques to identify early biomarkers for better diagnosis.
In addition to his research, he has held academic positions at prestigious institutions such as IIT Kanpur, NIMHANS (Bengaluru), and New York University Abu Dhabi. He has taught courses on cognitive science, including neuromatch summer courses, and is engaged in the emerging field of AI ethics.
Ranjith is passionate about understanding brain algorithms and exploring the links between top-down and bottom-up approaches in computational processes. He is deeply intrigued by how advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence can both mimic and enhance human cognitive processes. This curiosity has led him to engage with profound questions about the nature of humanity, self, agency and consciousness.
Sahar El Khoury (Moderator)
Kathrin Hönegger
Andrea Fischli
Dr. Iram Ghufran
Dr. Dasom Lee
Linda Sheng
Masahiro Shiomi
Hidenobu Sumioka
Indraneel Ghose
Prajwala Ravikrishna
Maitreyee Shirolkar