2026 Annual Solanki Lecture: The Green Transition and Artificial Intelligence With Akhil Gupta
In this talk, Dr. Gupta looks at the promise and perils of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the arena of climate change through an analysis of energy and infrastructural sectors. The green transition – the effort to decarbonize electricity generation by moving to renewable resources such as solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, and geothermal energy – is our only hope of saving the planet from impending disaster. AI plays a contradictory role in imaginations of the future energyscape, as it is seen as potentially beneficial in bringing about the green transition but simultaneously hastening climate change due to its high demand for electricity. How would a perspective from the Global South help us think more carefully and critically about green transitions and the potential of AI in the energy sector?
Dr. Gupta is a Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne. He is a past president of the American Anthropological Association and a past director of the Center for India and South Asia at UCLA. His research and writing examine bureaucracy, corruption, agriculture, infrastructure, and economy in South Asia.
The Solanki Lecture will be held in person in the College of Professional and Continuing Education (CPaCE) building Thursday, April 23rd, 2026
We will be having a traditional Indian dinner served starting at 6:00pm. The lecture will begin at 7:00pm
