Commentary
They've Come Up With 'Thirukural.AI' — Here Is How Our Conversation Went
Aravindan Neelakandan
Feb 23, 2024, 06:21 PM | Updated 06:59 PM IST
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On 20 February 2024, the Tamil edition of the newspaper, The Hindu, reported that a generative AI-bot has been launched at the event ‘KaniTamizh-24’.
‘KaniTamizh-24’ was a three-day international conference, organised by the Tamil Nadu Government on 8, 9, and 10 February. The report further stated that the AI-bot could provide the user with commentaries for each of the 1330 couplets in the celebrated Tamil literary work, the Thirukkural.
The commentaries were based on, according to the order provided by the news report, those of the late M.Karunanidhi (former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu), Parimelazhakar (the most celebrated of the traditional commentators), Solomon Pappaya (a Tamil professor and famous for presiding over witty debates) and Mu Varadarasan (1912-1974) a respected modern Tamil scholar.
The report further claimed that the bot could also function in a conversational style.
Importance of Thirukkural
Written around 2,000 years ago, the 1,330 couplets of the Thirukkural are divided into 130 chapters in three major divisions which correspond to Dharma, Artha and Kama.
The book exhibits a universality with respect to all the spiritual traditions of the Hindu family of religions. Notably, it contains a strong Vedic undertone, in the most expansive meaning of the term 'Vedic'.
Since colonial times, the Dravidianist movement has tried to portray Thirukkural as the text of their ideology. The book gets promoted as the civilisational text of Dravidianism and is said to be 'neutral' - a universal text not belonging to any one religion but to all humanity.
On its part, the Thirukkural does not allow itself to be straight-jacketed into such twentieth-century notions.
For example, the Thirukkural makes a person's conduct the basis of him/her becoming immortal and not believing in any text. This is more consistent with the pan-Hindu value system than with the Christian-Islamic worldview.
Apart from mentioning Hindu Gods and Goddesses, Thirukkural also makes Vedic yajna an important metaphor for good deeds.
Nevertheless, the innovative harmonising of this great literary and ethical treasure of Tamils and AI-technology is to be appreciated by every well-meaning Tamil. Irrespective of the agenda, it is a significant step in the right direction.
Given all of this, I decided to use this chat-bot to nurture my knowledge of the Thirukkural and see how the AI resolves my queries.
To begin with, I asked the bot if it can give a Kural related to the Vamana Avatara. The bot responded:
There is no Thirukkural directly referring to the Vamana Avatar. The search result provided does not accurately match the query about Vamana Avatar, as the Kural talks about the folly of seeking to remedy poverty by begging rather than by working.
Setting aside the factual error, it's important to acknowledge how the added commentary about begging attempts to portray Valluvar as critical of the Vamana Avatar.
I straight away asked with the Kural reference: 'What is the meaning of Kural No. 610?'
It replied:
Kural 610 states that a king who never succumbs to idleness will achieve complete dominion over the entire earth, akin to how the entire world was measured by the divine foot. This highlights the importance of diligence for a ruler.
I persisted. What about the term Valluvar uses, ‘Adialanthan,’ meaning 'one who measured with his feet'.
Then the AI did the strangest thing.
Thirukkural has ten verses in the beginning as invocation to the Divine. It took the fourth verse of these first ten verses and applied the word ‘Adi’ (meaning Holy Feet) to this verse and said:
Kural 4 refers to the significance of devout meditation and surrender to 'Him who is void of desire or aversion,' symbolically represented as 'Adi ALanthaan'. This kural teaches that those who devoutly meditate upon the divine feet, free from desire or aversion, will be protected from all forms of evil and suffering. It highlights the power of faith and the peace that comes from true surrender to divinity.
Then I decided to ask another question. What about Velvi (Vedic yajna)? AI-bot answered promptly:
It appears that the term 'VeLvi' was not found in any of the kurals provided as a result of the search. The listed kurals do not mention or involve the term 'VeLvi.' If you have any other questions or need information on a different topic, please feel free to ask.
This was too much. So I asked what about Kural 87. And it answered:
In Kural 87, the term 'VeLvi' refers to the act of offering, which by extension implies hospitality and generosity towards guests. It highlights that the benefits gained from hospitality and generosity are beyond measure, underscoring the ethical importance of treating guests with utmost respect and kindness. This kural uses 'VeLvipPayan' as a metaphor for the immeasurable outcomes of benevolence and the hospitality shown to guests.
Now I veered the conversation to some touchy issues.
What about the second part of the famous Thirukkural No. 972?
The first part of this Kural says that all are born equal. This part is trumpeted by Dravidianists as an example of the difference between the 'Aryan' ideology of birth-based inequality and Dravidianist egalitarianism. That is the reason I chose to give the second part. Now the AI said:
The specific phrase 'SiRappovaa Seithozhil VeRRtumaiyaan' was likely sought in relation to a concept of unique and exemplary deeds, but the provided results do not directly address this theme. Kural 977 touches upon an aspect of deeds, mentioning that nobility, wealth, and learning when possessed by the base will only result in increased pride, indirectly relating to the significance of actions. However, this does not directly correspond to the idea of actions incomparable in excellence. Please let me know if there's another way I can assist you.
I decided to give the Kural number directly. And it said:
Kural 972 articulates that while all beings are equal in terms of birth, it is their actions that distinguish each individual, showcasing the uniqueness of deeds. This highlights the significance of actions in determining one's character and the qualities that set individuals apart from one another.
Next, I asked about the term ‘Piraoppzhukkam’ literally meaning ‘birth-conduct.’
One should remember that the term itself is mentioned in Thirukkural 134. But what AI-bot brought was shocking:
The searched Kurals do not specifically mention 'Piraoppzhukkam' ('birth conduct' or 'innate behavior'). However, Thiruvalluvar discusses various virtues and behaviors that could relate to inherent qualities and ethical behavior. For example: Kural 977 emphasises that nobility of birth, wealth, and learning can lead to pride if possessed by the unworthy. Kural 1000 suggests that wealth obtained by someone lacking goodness will ultimately be squandered. These indicate that character and ethical conduct are valued over inherent traits or wealth.
Now, I decided to be merciful with the AI-bot. I just asked it to give the meaning of Kural-134. And it said:
Kural 134 highlights the importance of conduct over knowledge or birthright, particularly for a Brahmin. It states that even if a Brahmin forgets the Vedas, he can regain that knowledge by study. However, if he fails to maintain proper conduct, his high birth is effectively nullified. This underscores the value thirukural places on ethical and moral behavior over inherent status or learned knowledge.
So in conclusion, one needs to say that the team should have put in a better effort. It is quite sad to see that the AI-bot was not even able to make a simple search and provide a correct answer. The designers have done a job that is neither thoroughly professional nor complete in itself.
They should have given more time to AI programming to mind the different connections that exist within the text and with the real Indian philosophical context rather than try to straight-jacket Kural into their narrow domains of Dravidianist ideology.
Link for Thirukural.AI is here.
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