When my ten-year-old lost to AI, almost!

More than a year ago, when I decided to start a series on Travel Tips, called Trip Elf: Your Travel Buddy, I remember having a quick chat with Mia, my little princess. She was about to turn nine then. For most of my articles, I used my clicks as the title picture. I wanted something different this time.

Mia came up with a lovely idea. She said, ‘Appa, you give me the storyline, I’ll draw a picture for you’. There was one condition though. I had to promise to her that all the pictures in this series will be hers. Our sweet partnership started with that. Since then, I had written seven stories in the series, and she drew the pictures for most of them. But something was destined to change.

It was time for the next story in the series. I got the points ready and even detailed the content in my mind. All what was required was to put the pen to the paper. But before publishing the story, I obviously needed a title picture from my daughter.

As usual I had given her the plot and discussed the requirements for the image with her. She was all set to create another beautiful image for the next one in my series. After a couple of days, I reminded her about the picture so that I could post the article. That was when an end-of-the-chapter-test came as an impediment for her. She seemed to have already mastered the art of prioritizing her tasks, something as adults, we still struggle.

Since she was unable to provide me with the image, I decided to negotiate with her. As the content was almost ready, I did not want to delay the publishing any further. Hence, I suggested a fallback option as a one-time exception. Copilot! The wonderful world of AI opened in front of us. Interestingly, she did not resist the idea.

Together we explored the prompt engineering experience of AI. After a couple of attempts, Copilot generated a beautiful image fully assimilating our requirement. We decided to use the image. But the instruction from my daughter was quite clear. This is a one-time exception due to time constraint, and it should remain that way.

The story will be published soon with the AI image created, instead of a beautiful art form by my darling daughter! I know it is a one-off as my daughter’s happiness will always be more important than the happiness of publishing another article bypassing her creativity.

Meanwhile, this is a powerful reminder of what is happening around the world today. People find easier alternatives with AI to perform tasks that needed human beings earlier. For me personally, it is also a reminder to keep emotional and social aspects in mind, while trying to take decisions to embrace AI.

If you are one such decision maker in an organisation who decides on the fate of an employee in favour of AI, it may be worthwhile asking these questions? 

 - Is AI worth letting go of someone who trusted you and gave their best?

 - Is there an alternate way of using the AI along with your valuable and loyal employees?

 - Have you really quantified and qualified the effectiveness of AI before letting go the people who helped you build the organization?

In the end, let us all remember this. All of us who knew what the term Y2K means, have survived a similar onslaught of internet. Let me not say, this too shall pass. Instead, we shall survive this as well.

Here is a toast to a world that looks forward to AI along with U & I.

 

Lokah – Redefining Myth!

Years ago, I remember growing up reading story books that dealt with various types of supernatural beings. Among the different types, the one that found its way into the deepest and darkest of emotional chambers in my mind would have undoubtedly been the one about Yakshis, the closest western equivalent perhaps to Vampires!

The stories spoke about Yakshis owning the nights, especially in the routes through deserted places. They will then lure people with their beauty and sensuality, eventually taking in the prey and suck the blood out of them, leaving them dead. The entire plot was good enough to manipulate the scary emotions in young readers’ mind. So, it was, for most of my generation who grew up reading similar stories and fearing all sorts of supernatural beings.

All that was destined to change in August 2025. 

A movie got released in multiple Indian languages. The name was Lokah – Chapter 1, Chandra. It was obvious that the movie was meant to become a franchise if the first one became a hit. The movie started with the lead actor donning a superhero character, a woman who had supernatural powers and was portrayed in a fantastic action sequence.

A few minutes into the movie, the character’s origin was revealed. That was the biggest announcement in the history of myths in Malayalam literature. The character was none other than (warning: spoiler alert!) Kalliyankattu Neeli, the legendary Yakshi ever created in Malayalam. The movie then traversed through paths that were absolutely new for everyone who ever had an exposure to Yakshis through books in the past.

The latest Neeli, while she possessed similar traits of a blood thirsty Yakshi from the past, surprises the audience with softer emotions such as love and care. The movie even portrayed a small girl who was listening to her grandfather about Neeli, asking the question, if Neeli was a superhero? The whole plot was turned.

As the movie ended, from a scary supernatural being, Neeli now donned a positive persona. The one to be loved, instead of to be afraid of. The one that only took the revenge against the terrible human beings than good ones since Neeli had a soft corner towards good humans.

It is amazing how Dominic Arun and Santhy Balachandran, co-writers of this script were able to give a total makeover to a once super scary persona of Neeli as a Yakshi, to someone to be absolutely adored and loved.

I can’t help but imagine this. If a movie was able to bring such a mindset change to a myth that is centuries old, can the corporate world use this same technique for changing some of the deep-rooted beliefs and facilitate a mindset change if we truly need an organization culture change?