Why is it in the News?

Known as ‘AI agents’, GPT-4o and Project Astra have been touted as far superior to conventional voice assistants such as Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant.

What are AI Agents?

• AI agents are sophisticated AI systems that can engage in real-time, multi-modal (text, image, or voice) interactions with humans.
• Unlike conventional language models, which solely work on text-based inputs and outputs, AI agents can process and respond to a wide variety of inputs including voice, images, and even input from their surroundings.
• AI agents are designed to perceive their environment and take actions in order to achieve specific goals.
  • They perceive their environment through sensors, process the information using algorithms or models, and then take actions using actuators or other means.
• AI agents can range from simple systems that follow predefined rules to complex, autonomous entities that learn and adapt based on their experiences.
• They're utilized in various fields, including robotics, gaming, virtual assistants, autonomous vehicles, and more.
• These agents can be reactive (responding directly to stimuli), deliberative (planning and making decisions), or even have learning capabilities (adapting their behaviour based on data and experiences).

How are they Different From Large Language Models?

• While large language models (LLMs) like GPT-3 and GPT-4 have the ability only to generate human-like text, AI agents make interactions more natural and immersive with the help of voice, vision, and environmental sensors.
  • Unlike LLMs, AI agents are designed for instantaneous, real-time conversations with responses much similar to humans.
• LLMs lack contextual awareness, while AI agents can understand and learn from the context of interactions, allowing them to provide more relevant and personalised responses.
• Also, language models do not have any autonomy since they only generate text output.
• AI agents, however, can perform complex tasks autonomously such as coding, data analysis, etc.
• When integrated with robotic systems, AI agents can even perform physical actions.

What are the Potential Uses of AI Agents?

• AI agents can serve as intelligent and highly capable assistants.
• They are capable of handling an array of tasks, from offering personalised recommendations to scheduling appointments.
• AI agents can be ideal for customer service as they can offer seamless natural interactions, and resolve queries instantly without actually the need for human interventions.
• In the field of education and training, AI agents can act as personal tutors, customise themselves based on a student’s learning styles, and may even offer a tailored set of instructions.
• In healthcare, they could assist medical professionals by providing real-time analysis, diagnostic support, and even monitoring patients.

Risks and Challenges Associated With AI Agents:

• While AI agents showcase immense potential for the future, they are not without risks.
• Privacy and security are a key area of concern as AI agents gain access to more personal data and environmental information.
• Just like any AI model, AI agents can carry forward biases from their training data or algorithms, leading to harmful outcomes.

As these systems become more common, appropriate regulations and governance frameworks should be laid out to ensure their responsible deployment.

Why is it in the News?

The Consumer Affairs Ministry has invited public comments by June 11 on draft rules for microwave Doppler radar equipment used to measure vehicle speeds on roads, according to a circular issued by the ministry.

What are Doppler Radar Speed Guns?

• Doppler radar speed guns are tools that use the Doppler effect to measure the speed of moving objects, such as vehicles.
• They consist of a radio transmitter and receiver that send out a narrow beam of radio waves.
• When these waves bounce off a moving object, their frequency changes due to the Doppler effect.
• This phenomenon occurs when the frequency of a wave changes as its source moves relative to an observer.

The Doppler Effect

• The Doppler effect refers to the change in frequency or wavelength of a wave in relation to an observer moving relative to the wave source.
• In the case of a radar speed gun, the waves in question are radio waves.

How do Doppler Radar Speed Guns work?

• As the object moves toward or away from the radar gun, the frequency of the reflected waves is altered.
  • If the object is approaching the radar, the frequency increases
  • If it's moving away, the frequency decreases
• The radar speed gun analyzes these changes to calculate the object's speed using the following equation:
  • v = Δf/f × c/2
  • where v is the object's speed, Δf is the frequency shift, f is the transmitted frequency, and c is the speed of light.
• Doppler radar speed guns are commonly used by law enforcement to monitor vehicle speeds, ensuring safety on the roads.
• They can also be found in various other applications, such as aviation, navigation, and meteorology.

Advantages

• Non-Contact Measurement: Measures speed without needing to be in contact with the vehicle.
• Quick and Accurate: Provides rapid speed measurements with high accuracy.
• Versatile: Can be used in various conditions and for different types of moving objects.

Why is it in the News?

Wildlife authorities in Himachal Pradesh’s high altitude, cold desert district of Lahaul & Spiti have started surveys as part of the census to estimate the population of blue sheep or bharal and the Himalayan ibex, the main prey of the iconic snow leopard.

About Himalayan Ibex:

• The Himalayan ibex, a subspecies of the Siberian ibex, is native to the Himalayan regions of India, Pakistan, Tibet, and Nepal.
• These sure-footed, sturdy wild goats belong to the genus Capra in the family Bovidae and are typically found in mountainous regions across Europe, Asia, and northeastern Africa.
• Scientific Name: Capra sibirica hemalayanus
• Habitat: Himalayan ibex inhabit the high-altitude regions of the Himalayas, including the Trans-Himalayan areas, at elevations between 3,000 and 5,800 meters.
• In India, they are primarily found in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

Features:

• Size: Adult Himalayan ibex weighs about 90 kg and stands around 40 inches tall.
• Sexual Dimorphism: Males are larger than females and have large, curved horns with front notches that grow each year.
• Coat: Their coat varies from light brown to reddish-brown with a white belly and distinctive black and white markings on their legs.
  • The coat is thick and woolly in winter, shedding in early summer. A darker dorsal stripe is also present.
• Behaviour: They are typically found in small herds, sometimes numbering up to 50 individuals.
  • They are agile and can run at speeds of up to 50 km/h.

Conservation Status:

• IUCN Red List: Near Threatened

About Blue Sheep/Bharal:

• The blue sheep, also known as the bharal, is a caprine species native to the high Himalayas.
• Its scientific name is Pseudois nayaur, and it is the sole member of the genus Pseudois.

Distribution:

• The bharal is found in several countries, including India, Bhutan, China (specifically in Gansu, Ningxia, Sichuan, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia), Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan.

Features:

• Size: Medium-sized caprids, measuring 115 to 165 cm (45 to 65 in) in length, with tails ranging from 10 to 20 cm (3.9 to 7.9 in).
• They stand 69 to 91 cm (27 to 36 in) at the shoulder.
• Sexual Dimorphism: Males are slightly larger than females.
• Coat: Their short, dense coat is slate grey, often with a bluish shine. The underparts and backs of the legs are white, while the chest and fronts of the legs are black.
• Horns: The horns grow upwards, curve out, and then back, resembling an upside-down arc.
• Behaviour: Bharal are diurnal, alternating between feeding and resting on grassy mountain slopes.

Conservation Status:

• IUCN Red List: Least Concern
• Wildlife Protection Act 1972: Schedule ICoat: Their short, dense coat is slate grey, often with a bluish shine. The underparts and backs of the legs are white, while the chest and fronts of the legs are black.
• Horns: The horns grow upwards, curve out, and then back, resembling an upside-down arc.
• Behaviour: Bharal are diurnal, alternating between feeding and resting on grassy mountain slopes.

Conservation Status:

• IUCN Red List: Least Concern
• Wildlife Protection Act 1972: Schedule I

Why is it in the News?

A passenger died and many were injured when a Singapore Airlines’ Boeing 777 headed from London to Singapore “severe turbulence” en route.

What is the Aircraft Turbulence

• Turbulence means disruption of airflow over the wings of an aeroplane, which causes it to enter irregular vertical motion.
• These pockets of disturbed air can have many causes, most obviously the unstable weather patterns that trigger storms.
• It is caused by the relative movement of disturbed air through which an aircraft is flying.

There are at least seven kinds of turbulence that an aircraft can run into:

• Wind Shear: It happens when there is a sudden change in wind direction, whether vertically or horizontally.
  • Typically occurs close to thunderstorms, jet streams, etc.; tricky for pilots as tailwinds suddenly change to headwinds or vice versa.
• Frontal: Created in the frontal zone when warm air is lifted by a sloping frontal surface and friction between opposing air masses.
  • Most palpable when warm air is moist; intensity increases with thunderstorms. Most commonly close to thunderstorms.
• Convective: When land surface temperature rises, the air above the ground heats up and rises, creating air pockets around it.
  • Convection currents cause difficulties during approach as they tend to affect the rate of descent.
• Wake: It forms behind an aircraft when it flies through air-creating wingtip vortices.
• Mechanical: This type of turbulence occurs when tall solid objects such as mountains or highrise constructions disrupt the normal airflow, causing the air for planes to fly through to become dirty.
• Clear Air: It occurs when an aircraft crosses from one air mass to another, which has a different direction.
  • Clear air turbulence could also happen when an aircraft moves out of a jet stream. Clear air turbulence is mainly caused by wind or jet streams.
• Mountain View: It is one of the most severe; these are oscillations that form on the downwind side of mountains when strong winds flow towards mountains in a perpendicular fashion.
  • Aircraft tracking perpendicularly across, or downwind of a mountain, may experience a sudden loss of altitude followed by a sudden reduction in airspeed.

Are turbulence incidents dangerous?

• It depends on their nature and intensity.
• Aircraft undergo some form of turbulence on a regular basis and pilots are trained to deal with these.
• However, there have been several instances when turbulence has brought down modern jetliners.

Even in these cases, while intense turbulence has been the main cause of an accident, several other factors — such as lack of proper training, and poor dissemination of weather or wind-related information — have contributed to the accident.