California just passed a slew of laws meant to direct development of generative AI tools towards the greater good. Once again, California is taking the lead in belling the cat where ideally we would want legislation to come at the federal level. In this article, I will look at the rationale behind two of these […]
Category: Socio-technical
GenAI for Computing Careers: A Sunny Take
A slightly shorter version of this article first appeared in the Times of India on September 24, 2025. Much ink has been spilled discussing what the career prospects are for a CS graduate in this day and age where generative AI has upturned our world. Much of that ink has predicted a gloomy outlook. Here […]
The Case for a Public Education
This is the time of the year when about 4 million high-schoolers, and their frazzled parents, will be considering the important, arguably life-changing, decision about which college to enroll in. The well-prepared will have a wealth of desirable choices to choose from, while many others will be staring at a small set of unenviable choices. […]
The Gift that Keeps on Giving to Apple and Google
That gift is the mobile app stores, respectively, the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store [I will use the lower case letters “app stores” to refer to the generic portals, while capital case refers to the specific one from Apple.]. They generate revenue for the duopoly of Google and Apple through the fee […]
Short Take: EVM: An Unheralded Technology Powering Democracy
EVMs or Electronic Voting Machines are not much in the news. But quietly, this technology is enabling world’s democracies to elect their leaders in an efficient and secure manner. This includes prominently in India, proudly world’s largest democracy, which completed its multi-round election spread over 6 weeks earlier this summer, an election that reached out […]
How does Life Change Post Academic Tenure?
Tenure is this seemingly magical elevation in academia that grants you the power, nay, the opportunity to do adventurous things, secure in the knowledge that you have a permanent job. Well, if you are thinking that nothing is permanent except for death and taxes, you are right; tenure is permanent with several corner cases. With […]
A Walled Apple Garden: A Technologist’s Perspective
Apple has been in the news due to the lawsuit by the US Department of Justice alleging monopolistic practices in its smartphone business, and the surrounding ecosystem of App Store and others. Apple has rebutted saying its walled garden is loved by its users for its ease of use and it ensures the security of […]
Screen Time: What and How Much is Too Much?
We are on screens on all the time, as faculty members in Computer Science and as human beings in a technologically developed society. Screens come in all form factors, from the mobile phone that has us wrapped around it continually, to multiple monitors at work, to surrounding gigantic screens for consuming our entertainment. This large […]
Distant Whispers from an Academic Engineer's World 