AI Bot for UPSC: Twenty-six-year-old Mahesh Singh spent two years preparing for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination. On June 16th, Sunday, he gave his first attempt. In the two-hour General Studies paper, Singh attempted 78 out of 100 questions, expecting to score 101 out of 200—enough to clear the preliminary stage of the exam.
However, Singh was astonished to learn that someone had solved the entire exam in just seven minutes, scoring 175 marks. To his relief, that ‘someone’ wasn’t human.
The Rise of PadhAI: An AI Bot for UPSC
An Artificial Intelligence-based app called PadhAI attempted 94 out of 100 questions. Using answer keys from different coaching institutes—Vajiram, Vision IAS, and Physics Wallah—the bot scored between 170 and 185 marks in the UPSC preliminary exam 2024.
This AI bot was developed by a group of IITians and was tested under real exam conditions at The Lalit, New Delhi, in the presence of education sector professionals, the UPSC community, and journalists. In comparison, OpenAI’s ChatGPT scored only 75 marks and didn’t clear the cutoff.
Innovation from IITians
Sidhant Kabra, a founding member of PadhAI and an IIT Bombay graduate, explained the AI’s capabilities. “We use UPSC-specific and news data to ensure the model is aligned with UPSC needs.
Our AI is trained on various sources of current affairs and is dynamically updated, enabling it to crack exams like UPSC, which have a high percentage of current affairs questions,” Kabra said. The app is designed to assist aspirants by providing them with a comprehensive preparation resource.
Future Prospects
Kabra hinted at expanding the app’s capabilities to other competitive exams. PadhAI offers several AI features, including news summaries, smart previous-year question paper searches, NCERT book content, doubt clarification, and interactive answer explanations, all of which are crucial for UPSC preparation. Traditionally, students have relied heavily on the Rs 3,000 crore UPSC coaching industry.
The Vision Behind SigIQ.ai
PadhAI is a product of SigIQ.ai, founded in July 2023 by Karttikeya Mangalam, who holds a doctorate from the Berkeley AI Research lab. Mangalam has seven years of research experience at UC Berkeley, Stanford, Meta AI, Google AI, and IIT Kanpur, and has published over 35 papers cited more than 4,000 times. “This is the highest score achieved in the last 10 years of UPSC exams. We believe that while our event is the first of its kind, in a few years, such events will become commonplace as several educational institutions race to solve papers quickly and precisely with AIs,” Mangalam said.
Developers with UPSC Aspirations
PadhAI’s development team includes UPSC aspirants who graduated from IITs, blending their firsthand experience with cutting-edge technology.
The Human Touch in UPSC Preparation
Despite the AI’s impressive performance, coaching institute owners emphasize the irreplaceable human element in UPSC preparation. “AI, operating on binary principles, can efficiently process and provide information, yet it falls short in interpreting nuanced human emotions and skills crucial for UPSC preparation.
While AI aids in data collection, the true differentiation lies in the human ability to apply and articulate knowledge. Expertise and personal interpretation, especially in descriptive answers and decision-making, remain irreplaceable by technology,” AR Khan, founder of Khan Study Group (KSG), told ThePrint.
Amit Kilhor, a faculty member at StudyIQ, echoed similar sentiments. “AI can deliver content and practice exercises, but it lacks the nuanced understanding and reasoning skills required in exams. AI relies on algorithms to process information rather than contextual understanding. AI also is not able to replicate classroom learning and strategic thinking, which are essential for excelling in competitive exams,” Kilhor said.
Complementing Traditional Learning
Aspirants like Singh see AI technology as a complementary tool rather than a replacement. “We have Telegram groups where we find most of the content such as NCERT PDFs, videos of a particular topic or teacher. Now such apps will help but we will have to wait and see how helpful they can be,” said Singh, who is now waiting for his UPSC results.
Conclusion
The advent of AI tools like PadhAI marks a significant shift in how aspirants prepare for competitive exams like UPSC. While the AI bot’s ability to score 175 in the prelims is remarkable, it is essential to recognize the irreplaceable value of human expertise and strategic thinking. As technology continues to evolve, the collaboration between AI tools and traditional learning methods could redefine the future of competitive exam preparation.
