Galgotias asked to leave AI Impact Summit after Chinese robotic dog controversy

Private university Galgotias has been asked to vacate its stall at the AI Impact Summit after a controversy over display of a madeinChina robotic dog as its own innovation Following the controversy IT Secretary S Krishnan said the government does not want any exhibitor to showcase items that are not their ownWe do not want such exhibits to continue he said after organisers asked Galgotias University to vacate its stall Later in the day in a statement Galgotias University apologised for the confusion created at the AI Impact Summit stating that the person manning the pavillion was illinformedShe was not aware of the technical origins of the products and in her enthusiasm of being on camera gave factually incorrect information even though she was not authorised to speak to the press the university saidStating that there was no institutional intent to misrepresent this innovation the university said it remains firmly committed to academic integrity transparency and responsible representations of its work It said it has vacated the premises understanding the organisers sentimentThe controversy erupted after Neha Singh a professor of communications at the University on Tuesday showed to DD News a robotic dog Orion saying it has been developed by the Centre of Excellence at Galgotias University As the video went viral social media users highlighted that the robot was actually a Unitree Go2 manufactured by Chinas Unitree Robotics and commonly used in research and education worldwideAs the episode snowballed into a controversy the university was asked to vacate the stall Facing backlash both Galgotias and Singh on Wednesday said the robot was not a university creation and that the institution had never claimed otherwiseIT Secretary Krishnan however emphasised that the government would not tolerate exhibits misrepresented as original creations If you mislead we do not want a controversy and so we do not want a controversial agency whom people believe are exhibiting something which is not theirs he said Abhishek Singh Additional Secretary in Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said the intention is not to stifle innovation but it should not be misleadingThe controversy should not overshadow the kind of effort that the others have put in he said As Galgotias University drew sharp criticism and accusations of misrepresenting imported technology as its own the Greater Noidabased institution issued a statement saying the robotic programming is part of our endeavour to make students learn AI programming and develop and deploy real world skills using globally available tools and resources given developing AI talent is the need of the hourStating that its faculty and students were deeply pained by the propaganda campaign against the institution the university said its vision is focused on student learning and innovation and that it provides students access to modern technologies to help them gain practical experience and prepare for the futureSpreading negativity can harm the morale of students who are working hard to innovate learn and build their skills using global technologies it said The university maintained that the exercise was aimed at imparting handson AI programming skills using globally available platforms and toolsOn ground the universitys stall at the expo had no display on Wednesday Some students of the university continued to occupy the stall Responding to the controversy Singh told PTI that The controversy happened because things may not have been expressed clearly and the intent may not have been properly understoodRegarding the robot dog we cannot claim that we manufactured it I have told everyone that we introduced it to our students to inspire them to create something better on their own Our university contributes to building future leaders by providing cuttingedge technologies in the field of AI and it will continue to do soOn reports that the government had asked the university to vacate the expo area she said I do not have any information about that What I know is that today we are all present hereThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever