Far from madding crowds: Good planning, modern tech can prevent deadly stampedes
Published 7 hours ago• 2 minute read
Far from madding crowds: Good planning, modern tech can prevent deadly stampedes
ET CONTRIBUTORS
: It requires sophisticated and multi-disciplinary research with a degree of mutual understanding between technologists and social scientists. This needs the development of a new discipline: computational sociology. GoI should support the roll out of dedicated courses and fund them. It is worth noting that any successful use of tech for people's benefit requires the involvement of social scientists. Isro demonstrated the advantages through its pioneering multi- and trans-disciplinary teams for the Satellite TV Experiment (SITE) in 1975.
Given the role of social media in crowd collection and subsequent behaviour (often triggered by rumours or fake news), prompt corrective and pre-emptive posts would help. These can be created and sent out instantaneously by GenAI, which can be integrated into the model.
With our population size and culture, large crowds may be unavoidable. However, what the tech-based models can ensure is that crowds do not equal stampedes. That would be one tragedy we could-and should-finally prevent.
The writer is chairperson, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.)
