AI Before ChatGPT: Prof. Balaraman Ravindran on the Origins, Future & Ethics of Artificial Intelligence In this deep-dive episode of the Prof. Mahesh Podcast, host Prof. Mahesh Panchagnula sits down with Prof. Balaraman Ravindran, Head of the Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI at IIT Madras, to explore the fascinating journey of AI—from its origins in the 1990s to today’s breakthroughs with ChatGPT.Prof. Ravindran takes us back to his early research in reinforcement learning at IISc Bangalore in 1995, shares how milestones like AlexNet and ChatGPT transformed AI, and offers unique insights into the philosophical and technical debates shaping its future.