A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS CLASS AND Q&A SESSION (05:05 PM)

INTERNET (05:11 PM)

• The Internet can be divided into surface web and deep web. 
• The surface web is easily accessible through search engines such as Google. It consists of publicly available websites 
• The deep web refers to the part of the internet that is not accessible through search engines. Often it requires some authentication, payment, or both to access such content. For example- Online banking, e-mail servers, and Subscription-based services. 
• The dark web is part of the internet that is not indexed by search engines and requires special software such as the TOR browser to access them.
• The content on the dark web is heavily encrypted and anonymous because of this it is often used for illegal activities such as the Smuggling of drugs, cybercrime, and Terror Financing among others. 
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• [* Example- Silk Road was a notorious cyber black market for illicit goods and the first dark web market of the internet era. Launched in 2011 and shut down by the FBI in 2013. After this Silk Road 2.0 was in operation]
• [** Dark Web can also be used for Positive uses such as BBC posted its dark web address during the Russia-Ukraine conflict to counter the Russian propaganda of war]
• VPN- Virtual private network
• VPN means a Virtual private network and allows for establishing a protected network connection when using public networks. 
• It encrypts the internet traffic and disguises the online identity. This makes it more difficult for third parties to track your activities online and steal data. 
• VPN hides the IP address by letting the network redirect it through a specially configured remote server run by a VPN host. 
• VPN is an encrypted connection over the Internet from a device to a network. The encrypted connection helps ensure that sensitive data is safely transmitted. It prevents unauthorized people from eavesdropping on the traffic and allows the user to conduct work remotely.
• VPNs are not the dark web, VPNs are perfectly legal
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• TOR v/s VPN 
• VPNs emphasize privacy, and Tor emphasizes anonymity. 
• A VPN encrypts the connection and routes it through an intermediary server in another location of the user’s choosing whereas, Tor encrypts the internet connection and routes it through a random sequence of servers run by volunteers.
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SATELLITE-BASED INTERNET (05:48 PM)

• Recently, Starlink and one web programs are in the news. Starlink aims to create a network of 1000s of satellites in Low Earth orbit that can provide non-stop internet anywhere on the planet. 
• One web has a similar program, however in a little higher orbit than Starlink. 
• Such programs provide high-speed internet anywhere on the planet including remote and rural areas where traditional ways to deliver internet like fiber optic cables may not be available because of high cost. 
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• There are some challenges (06:12 PM)
• Increased risk of collisions leading to more space debris
• How these services will be affected because of bad weather requires more research. 
• [* Spectrum of light coming from distant sources can range from Radio waves to visible light to Ultra violet rays etc. So these telescopes are kept at high altitude which has a thin atmosphere. Example- Ladakh and Uttrakhand (Devasthal)]
• It can lead to increased light pollution which can obstruct astronomical operations. 

NET NEUTRALITY (06:22 PM)

• It is a principle that all internet traffic should be treated equally without discrimination or preference. This means that ISPs should not be allowed to block or slow down access to certain websites or services or charge higher fees to users. This concept is important because 
• a) Internet remains an open and level playing field for all users regardless of their financial resources. 
• b) It also promotes competition and innovation by preventing large ISPs from using their market power to favour their own services or restrict access to competing services. 
• c) It is also very important for freedom of speech and expression because ISPs can not block websites, they do not agree with. 
• Context- Recently some experts have pointed out that 5G network slicing is inconsistent with net neutrality as it allocates differing bandwidth, however, the counter-argument is it is not deliberate and targeted at certain websites. In fact, it is based on optimum uses of existing bandwidth. 

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (07:02 PM)

• It refers to the simulation of human-like intelligence in machines i.e. enabling them to perform tasks that often require learning, problem-solving, and decision-making. Chat GPT is an example of generative artificial intelligence. 
• There are two branches of AI- 
• Narrow AI/ Weak AI- It is designed and trained to perform specific tasks such as image classification. 
• General AI/ Strong AI- It refers to AI systems that are capable of performing any intellectual task that a human can do. There are no known examples of general AI in existence. 
• Some of the most prominent AI technologies are 
• a) Computer Vision- Technologies that allow machines to understand and interpret visual information. This can be very helpful in facial recognition, image recognition, and self-driving cars among others. 
• b) Natural language processing- It enables machines to understand and interpret human language. It can be very helpful as voice assistants, and chatbots. 
• c) Machine learning- A type of AI that allows machines to learn from data and improve their performance over time. It involves the use of algorithms that can automatically improve themselves by learning from the data they are fed. 
• Deep learning is a subset of machine learning. Deep learning is modelled after the structure and function of the human brain. It involves neural networks where data is processed and passed on to the next neural networks. This can occur for many layers before providing the output. 
• d) Expert system- These are computer programs that use a knowledge base and reasoning algorithms to provide expert-level advice in a specific domain such as medicine, law, and finance among others. 

The topic for the next class:- Challenges of Artificial Intelligence, and Robotics.