UPSC Prelims 2020 GS Paper I · Q38 of 99 General Science medium

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 :

  1. (a) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only
  2. (b) 1, 3 and 4 only
  3. (c) 2, 4 and 5 only
  4. (d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 ✓ UPSC's answer

Why the answer is (d)

• The official key holds that AI can effectively do all five.

• AI optimises industrial energy use (1) — DeepMind cut Google data-centre cooling energy by 40%; generative models write short stories and songs (2); AI diagnoses disease from scans and records (3); text-to-speech (4) is mature AI.

• Item 5 is the debatable one: wireless power transfer is a physics/engineering technology, but AI is used to optimise beam-forming and energy routing in such systems, which is how the key justifies it.

• Hence 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, option (d).

Why the other options are wrong

(a) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only
Text-to-speech is a core AI capability and is omitted here.
(b) 1, 3 and 4 only
AI-generated stories/songs and AI-assisted wireless transfer are also counted.
(c) 2, 4 and 5 only
Energy optimisation and diagnosis are well-established AI uses.

Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2020, held on 4 October 2020. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

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