By the time Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the AI Action Summit in France a couple of weeks ago, nearly 50 million people had already taken a dip during the ongoing Mahakumbh. That number is about 75 per cent of France’s total population. Co-chairing the summit, PM Modi poignantly reminded world leaders: “No one holds the key to our collective future and shared destiny other than us humans. That sense of responsibility must guide us."

Yet, to galvanise everyone towards that collective future, India must demonstrate how to juxtapose Prayagraj with Paris, and how to blend evolved ancient wisdom with emerging future intelligence. The world will, unsurprisingly, focus on the intelligence aspect of AI. Meanwhile, India—drawing from its ancient practices—should unabashedly shine a light on the wisdom aspect through AWE: Ancient Wisdom Engagement.

Consider this, for example: over the past two decades, the technology industry has thrived by capitalising on “attention". Social media companies leveraged emerging technology to masterfully capture our “attention", maximising their profits. At the turn of the century, leading universities in Silicon Valley even offered courses on the “attention economy". Yet, between 2010 and 2015, as smartphone and social media adoption surged, the world also witnessed an unprecedented mental health crisis among........

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