New Delhi, February 18 – Following instructions from the organizers to vacate the AI Impact Summit Expo after it was accused of causing a "national embarrassment" by presenting a Chinese Unitree robodog as its own, professors from the university came out on Wednesday to clarify their position.
The professors stated that they had never presented the Chinese, AI-powered robodog as their own, and that the issue had been exaggerated on social media due to a minor misunderstanding, which was "unintentional and unintentional."
Speaking to IANS, Professor Neha Singh explained that the controversy arose due to miscommunication while she was explaining the robot's capabilities. She said her intention was to highlight how students were studying the robot and working on further development, not to falsely claim ownership.
"I was explaining what the robot can do, its features, and all related details. Somewhere along the way, the message got slightly distorted, and later many things became controversial. The purpose was for students to study the robot and further develop it, contributing to a stronger and more developed India. That was our full intention. Unfortunately, due to the surrounding excitement and hype, some things got misrepresented, and the words were slightly misinterpreted, which led to this controversy. We are genuinely embarrassed about it and feel bad that this happened at the AI Summit, which was meant to showcase our students' work," she said.
She further clarified that the robot was brought to the expo as part of a research and learning exercise.
"We brought this robot here for studying and research purposes. It was in the lab, and it was brought here for demonstration. After the controversy, I will say to everyone what our students have made," she added.
Professor Singh also expressed confidence that the incident would not damage the university's reputation, as it has significantly contributed to national development and has made the country proud on multiple occasions.
"I don't think it will impact the university. We have made the country proud many times. The university has a lot to contribute to the development of the country. So, there is nothing like it will impact or harm the university. But, yes, things got misinterpreted. Through your medium, I want to provide clarification," she said.
Professor Aishwarya Srivastava also spoke to IANS and said the university regretted that the issue had been miscommunicated. She said the institution had participated in the summit to showcase student projects and had no intention of harming India's image.
"We regret that it has been miscommunicated. We came here to showcase the work of our students, and we are not in any way trying to tarnish India's image. Our university aligns with the Prime Minister's vision and mission. We are working towards a self-reliant India," she said.
Srivastava added that the university was not offering an apology but acknowledged that the matter was misunderstood.
"Not an apology. We acknowledge that the matter was slightly misleading and misinterpreted. A small issue was blown out of proportion on social media, though we never had any such intention. Our students have developed iOS apps," she said.