The Director of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Prof. Govindan Rangarajan, has cautioned that artificial intelligence, for all it promises to classrooms and laboratories, is also making it harder to tell what is true. He was speaking as Chief Guest at the third convocation of Adani University in Ahmedabad on Saturday, 31 October 2026, where 374 students of the Class of 2026 received their degrees.
Rangarajan told the graduating class that AI can help researchers tackle complex problems and speed up scientific discovery, but that its consequences deserve equal attention. With images, video and information now generated convincingly by machines, he asked how students and scientists would know what is genuine, and whether technology that connects people digitally is also pushing them further apart. His advice was to embrace what AI can do while thinking carefully about what might be lost.
Why it matters for higher education
The remarks come as Indian universities move quickly to fold AI into teaching, assessment and research. Coming from the head of the country’s top-ranked research institution, the message to young researchers was clear: AI tools are now part of the scientific workflow, and verifying evidence, questioning outputs and protecting research integrity have become core academic skills, not optional extras.
Highlights from the convocation
- 374 degrees conferred on the Class of 2026 across the university’s engineering, technology and management programmes.
- Ten medals for academic excellence: five gold, three silver and two bronze.
- Research push: the university currently supports 48 PhD scholars and offers seed grants for faculty research, and more than 3,500 students have engaged with start-up activity under Gujarat’s Student Startup and Innovation Policy 2.0, according to the university president’s address as reported by NDTV.
Industry, innovation and “physical AI”
Dr Priti Adani, President of Adani University, presided over the ceremony. She spoke about the shift towards physical AI, where computing, sensors and robotics meet real-world infrastructure, and argued that scientific judgement will remain the real differentiator. On industry-academia ties, she said exposure to demanding real-world conditions can surface questions that neither industry nor academia would have framed on its own, rather than industry simply dictating what universities should teach.
Noting that India has built infrastructure at remarkable scale, she said the next task is to innovate and incubate at scale, and urged graduates to pursue breakthroughs that reach the most marginalised communities. She also outlined plans for a multidisciplinary global campus in Ahmedabad focused on long-term research.
Provost Prof. (Dr.) Dhaval Pujara presented the annual report, outlining efforts to strengthen academic foundations, build the research ecosystem and deepen engagement with industry and society.
About Adani University
Established in 2022 in Ahmedabad, Adani University focuses on industry-relevant education and transdisciplinary research in infrastructure, energy, technology and digital healthcare. It offers B.Tech, M.Tech and MBA programmes, NEP-compliant integrated B.Tech + MBA and B.Tech + M.Tech options, and an interdisciplinary PhD programme, with more than 1,800 students.
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