Advisory for APS School Students
Pretext
The Army Welfare Education Society has informed the Parents and students that a Scam is targeting the Army schools Students. The Scamster approaches the students by faking the voice of a female and a male. The scamster asks for the personal information and photos of the students by telling them they are taking details for the event, which is being organised by the Army welfare education society for the celebration of independence day. The Army welfare education society intimated that Parents to beware of these calls from scammers.
The students of Army Schools of Jammu & Kashmir, Noida, are getting calls from the scamster. The students were asked to share sensitive information. Students across the country are getting calls and WhatsApp messages from two numbers, which end with 1715 and 2167. The Scamster are posing to be teachers and asking for the students’ names on the pretext of adding them to the WhatsApp Groups. The scamster then sends forms links to the WhatsApp groups and asking students to fill out the form to seek more sensitive information.
Do’s
- Do Make sure to verify the caller.
- Do block the caller while finding it suspicious.
- Do be careful while sharing personal Information.
- Do inform the School Authorities while receiving these types of calls and messages posing to be teachers.
- Do Check the legitimacy of any agency and organisation while telling the details
- Do Record Calls asking for personal information.
- Do inform parents about scam calling.
- Do cross-check the caller and ask for crucial information.
- Do make others aware of the scam.
Don’ts
- Don’t answer anonymous calls or unknown calls from anyone.
- Don’t share personal information with anyone.
- Don’t Share OTP with anyone.
- Don’t open suspicious links.
- Don’t fill any forms, asking for personal information
- Don’t confirm your identity until you know the caller.
- Don’t Reply to messages asking for financial information.
- Don’t go to a fake website by following a prompt call.
- Don’t share bank Details and passwords.
- Don’t Make payment over a prompt fake call.
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Introduction
Generative AI models are significant consumers of computational resources and energy required for training and running models. While AI is being hailed as a game-changer, however underneath the shiny exterior, cracks are present which significantly raises concerns for its environmental impact. The development, maintenance, and disposal of AI technology all come with a large carbon footprint. The energy consumption of AI models, particularly large-scale models or image generation systems, these models rely on data centers powered by electricity, often from non-renewable sources, which exacerbates environmental concerns and contributes to substantial carbon emissions.
As AI adoption grows, improving energy efficiency becomes essential. Optimising algorithms, reducing model complexity, and using more efficient hardware can lower the energy footprint of AI systems. Additionally, transitioning to renewable energy sources for data centers can help mitigate their environmental impact. There is a growing need for sustainable AI development, where environmental considerations are integral to model design and deployment.
A breakdown of how generative AI contributes to environmental risks and the pressing need for energy efficiency:
- Gen AI during the training phase has high power consumption, when vast amounts of computational power which is often utilising extensive GPU clusters for weeks or at times even months, consumes a substantial amount of electricity. Post this phase, the inference phase where the deployment of these models takes place for real-time inference, can be energy-extensive especially when we take into account the millions of users of Gen AI.
- The main source of energy used for training and deploying AI models often comes from non-renewable sources which then contribute to the carbon footprint. The data centers where the computations for Gen AI take place are a significant source of carbon emissions if they rely on the use of fossil fuels for their energy needs for the training and deployment of the models. According to a study by MIT, training an AI can produce emissions that are equivalent to around 300 round-trip flights between New York and San Francisco. According to a report by Goldman Sachs, Data Companies will use 8% of US power by 2030, compared to 3% in 2022 as their energy demand grows by 160%.
- The production and disposal of hardware (GPUs, servers) necessary for AI contribute to environmental degradation. Mining for raw materials and disposing of electronic waste (e-waste) are additional environmental concerns. E-waste contains hazardous chemicals, including lead, mercury, and cadmium, that can contaminate soil and water supplies and endanger both human health and the environment.
Efforts by the Industry to reduce the environmental risk posed by Gen AI
There are a few examples of how companies are making efforts to reduce their carbon footprint, reduce energy consumption and overall be more environmentally friendly in the long run. Some of the efforts are as under:
- Google's TPUs in particular the Google Tensor are designed specifically for machine learning tasks and offer a higher performance-per-watt ratio compared to traditional GPUs, leading to more efficient AI computations during the shorter periods requiring peak consumption.
- Researchers at Microsoft, for instance, have developed a so-called “1 bit” architecture that can make LLMs 10 times more energy efficient than the current leading system. This system simplifies the models’ calculations by reducing the values to 0 or 1, slashing power consumption but without sacrificing its performance.
- OpenAI has been working on optimizing the efficiency of its models and exploring ways to reduce the environmental impact of AI and using renewable energy as much as possible including the research into more efficient training methods and model architectures.
Policy Recommendations
We advocate for the sustainable product development process and press the need for Energy Efficiency in AI Models to counter the environmental impact that they have. These improvements would not only be better for the environment but also contribute to the greater and sustainable development of Gen AI. Some suggestions are as follows:
- AI needs to adopt a Climate justice framework which has been informed by a diverse context and perspectives while working in tandem with the UN’s (Sustainable Development Goals) SDGs.
- Working and developing more efficient algorithms that would require less computational power for both training and inference can reduce energy consumption. Designing more energy-efficient hardware, such as specialized AI accelerators and next-generation GPUs, can help mitigate the environmental impact.
- Transitioning to renewable energy sources (solar, wind, hydro) can significantly reduce the carbon footprint associated with AI. The World Economic Forum (WEF) projects that by 2050, the total amount of e-waste generated will have surpassed 120 million metric tonnes.
- Employing techniques like model compression, which reduces the size of AI models without sacrificing performance, can lead to less energy-intensive computations. Optimized models are faster and require less hardware, thus consuming less energy.
- Implementing scattered learning approaches, where models are trained across decentralized devices rather than centralized data centers, can lead to a better distribution of energy load evenly and reduce the overall environmental impact.
- Enhancing the energy efficiency of data centers through better cooling systems, improved energy management practices, and the use of AI for optimizing data center operations can contribute to reduced energy consumption.
Final Words
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are crucial for the AI industry just as other industries as they guide responsible innovation. Aligning AI development with the SDGs will ensure ethical practices, promoting sustainability, equity, and inclusivity. This alignment fosters global trust in AI technologies, encourages investment, and drives solutions to pressing global challenges, such as poverty, education, and climate change, ultimately creating a positive impact on society and the environment. The current state of AI is that it is essentially utilizing enormous power and producing a product not efficiently utilizing the power it gets. AI and its derivatives are stressing the environment in such a manner which if it continues will affect the clean water resources and other non-renewable power generation sources which contributed to the huge carbon footprint of the AI industry as a whole.
References
- https://cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/artificial-intelligence/ais-hunger-for-power-can-be-tamed/111302991
- https://earth.org/the-green-dilemma-can-ai-fulfil-its-potential-without-harming-the-environment/
- https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/06/06/239031/training-a-single-ai-model-can-emit-as-much-carbon-as-five-cars-in-their-lifetimes/
- https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ais-climate-impact-goes-beyond-its-emissions/
- https://insights.grcglobalgroup.com/the-environmental-impact-of-ai/
Executive Summary:
The picture of a boy making sand art of Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli spreading in social media, claims to be false. The picture which was portrayed, revealed not to be a real sand art. The analyses using AI technology like 'Hive' and ‘Content at scale AI detection’ confirms that the images are entirely generated by artificial intelligence. The netizens are sharing these pictures in social media without knowing that it is computer generated by deep fake techniques.
Claims:
The collage of beautiful pictures displays a young boy creating sand art of Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli.
Fact Check:
When we checked on the posts, we found some anomalies in each photo. Those anomalies are common in AI-generated images.
The anomalies such as the abnormal shape of the child’s feet, blended logo with sand color in the second image, and the wrong spelling ‘spoot’ instead of ‘sport’n were seen in the picture. The cricket bat is straight which in the case of sand made portrait it’s odd. In the left hand of the child, there’s a tattoo imprinted while in other photos the child's left hand has no tattoo. Additionally, the face of the boy in the second image does not match the face in other images. These made us more suspicious of the images being a synthetic media.
We then checked on an AI-generated image detection tool named, ‘Hive’. Hive was found to be 99.99% AI-generated. We then checked from another detection tool named, “Content at scale”
Hence, we conclude that the viral collage of images is AI-generated but not sand art of any child. The Claim made is false and misleading.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the claim that the pictures showing a sand art image of Indian cricket star Virat Kohli made by a child is false. Using an AI technology detection tool and analyzing the photos, it appears that they were probably created by an AI image-generated tool rather than by a real sand artist. Therefore, the images do not accurately represent the alleged claim and creator.
Claim: A young boy has created sand art of Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli
Claimed on: X, Facebook, Instagram
Fact Check: Fake & Misleading
Executive Summary:
A fake photo claiming to show the cricketer Virat Kohli watching a press conference by Rahul Gandhi before a match, has been widely shared on social media. The original photo shows Kohli on his phone with no trace of Gandhi. The incident is claimed to have happened on March 21, 2024, before Kohli's team, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), played Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Many Social Media accounts spread the false image and made it viral.
Claims:
The viral photo falsely claims Indian cricketer Virat Kohli was watching a press conference by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on his phone before an IPL match. Many Social media handlers shared it to suggest Kohli's interest in politics. The photo was shared on various platforms including some online news websites.
Fact Check:
After we came across the viral image posted by social media users, we ran a reverse image search of the viral image. Then we landed on the original image posted by an Instagram account named virat__.forever_ on 21 March.
The caption of the Instagram post reads, “VIRAT KOHLI CHILLING BEFORE THE SHOOT FOR JIO ADVERTISEMENT COMMENCE.❤️”
Evidently, there is no image of Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi on the Phone of Virat Kohli. Moreover, the viral image was published after the original image, which was posted on March 21.
Therefore, it’s apparent that the viral image has been altered, borrowing the original image which was shared on March 21.
Conclusion:
To sum up, the Viral Image is altered from the original image, the original image caption tells Cricketer Virat Kohli chilling Before the Jio Advertisement commences but not watching any politician Interview. This shows that in the age of social media, where false information can spread quickly, critical thinking and fact-checking are more important than ever. It is crucial to check if something is real before sharing it, to avoid spreading false stories.
