Udaya Veeramreddygari

Just a couple years ago, artificial intelligence (more commonly recognized as AI) felt like something reserved for high-end tech companies or the pages of a sci-fi novel. Now? It’s in our browsers, our inboxes, and… my daughter’s high school backpack? She’s 16, part of Gen Z that was the first to grow up with the influence of smartphones and rapidly evolving technology. When I casually asked her if she uses AI tools such as ChatGPT, she didn’t hesitate to say: “Of course. Everyone does.” This answer stuck with me. Not because she’s using AI, but because of how normal it seemed to be for her. As someone working in an industry rapidly adapting to AI, I couldn’t help but wonder: How are today’s high schoolers using AI? What is their mindset? Are they ahead of us in understanding the potential of AI? And so, I went straight to investigate. I spoke with a few high school students, including my daughter, to learn how AI fits into their daily lives. What I found was amazing. Here are 5 questi...

As climate change continues to be a pressing global challenge, industries are on the lookout for creative ways to lessen their environmental footprint. The retail sector, which significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, is under increasing pressure to embrace sustainable practices. This small article delves into the idea of carbon footprint, why it's crucial to reduce it, and how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a game-changer for sustainability in the retail industry. Understanding Carbon Footprint A carbon footprint is essentially the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions that come from individuals, organizations, events, or products, whether directly or indirectly. In the retail sector, this encompasses emissions from making products, transporting them, energy used in stores, and how waste is handled. Typically, we measure the carbon footprint in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e), which also includes other greenhouse gases like methane and nitrous oxide. The Im...

  The Great AI Family Tree If you're confused about the difference between Generative AI, AI Agents, and Agentic AI, you're not alone – it's like trying to explain the difference between your cousin, your second cousin, and your cousin's roommate who's basically family at this point. They're all related, they all live in the same neighborhood, but they have very different personalities and capabilities. Think of it as an evolutionary chain: Generative AI is the talented artist who can create amazing content on demand, AI Agents are the reliable assistants who can actually get things done in the real world, and Agentic AI is the ambitious intern who not only does the work but also decides what work needs doing in the first place. Generative AI: The Creative Genius with No Initiative Generative AI is like having a brilliant friend who can write, draw, code, or compose music on command, but who never does anything unless you specifically ask. It's the techno...

 Large Language Models, or LLMs, are essentially sophisticated computer programs that have learned to understand and generate human language by studying massive amounts of text from books, articles, websites, and other written sources. Think of them as incredibly well-read digital minds that can engage in conversations, answer questions, write stories, explain complex topics, and even help with coding or creative tasks. What makes them remarkable isn't just their ability to mimic human speech patterns, but their capacity to understand context, make connections between ideas, and provide genuinely helpful responses across an enormous range of topics. The impact these AI systems are having on our daily lives is already profound and growing rapidly. Students are using them as study partners and writing assistants, professionals are streamlining their workflows by getting help with emails, reports, and brainstorming sessions, and creative individuals are collaborating with AI to gener...

AI had quietly integrated into daily life so smoothly that we stopped noticing it was there – which is probably exactly what good technology should do. Your morning routine involved AI recommending the perfect coffee temperature based on your sleep data, your commute featured AI optimizing traffic routes in real-time, and your work day included AI collaborators who remembered every detail of every project without making you feel bad about forgetting that important deadline (again). It wasn't the robot apocalypse; it was more like having a really competent digital support system that never judged your life choices. The year's biggest AI advancement wasn't any single breakthrough but rather the seamless orchestration of countless small improvements. Your phone's camera didn't just take photos anymore; it understood composition, lighting, and apparently your tendency to blink at the worst possible moment. Your email client stopped being just a message container and be...

AI had developed what can only be described as digital synesthesia – the ability to seamlessly translate between text, images, audio, and video like some kind of technological Renaissance polymath. Multimodal AI systems could look at a photo of your messy desk and write a haiku about organized chaos, listen to a song and generate artwork that captured its mood, or watch a video and provide commentary that was somehow both insightful and appropriately sarcastic. It was like AI had finally learned to speak human in all the ways humans actually communicate. The breakthrough wasn't just technical; it was experiential. You could show an AI a screenshot of an error message, describe the problem in whatever language felt natural (including frustrated gesturing, apparently), and get back a solution that actually worked. Designers could sketch rough concepts on napkins, upload photos, and receive polished digital versions that captured not just the lines but the intent behind them. It was ...