IIIT Hyderabad inaugurates centre for digital technologies in healthcare

The Kohli Centre on Intelligent Systems (KCIS) at the International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIITH) marked the birth anniversary of F.C. Kohli, founder of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). The institute also hosted the fifth edition of the FC Kohli Talks as part of the annual Kohli Day celebrations.

The event featured the Kohli Day Lecture by Dr D. Nageshwar Reddy, Chairman of AIG Hospitals. He delivered a lecture titled AI & Healthcare – Opportunities and Challenges – Why Doctors Don’t Like Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Dr Reddy inaugurated the Centre for Digital Technologies in Healthcare (CDiTH) at IIIT Hyderabad. He unveiled the plaque along with Srini Raju, BVR Mohan Reddy, R Chandrashekhar, and others.

“Like many doctors, I too didn’t like AI. I had a lot of apprehension about it because I thought it would be only effective after five or six years and by then I would retire. Because AI is too complicated, I felt it was not to be used in my lifetime. But, I have realised in the past couple of years the importance of AI,” he said, addressing an audience of over 250, including doctors, engineers, technologists, students, and faculty members at IIIT Hyderabad.

Dr Reddy spoke about AI’s role in medicine, including pre- and post-surgery care, patient monitoring, and personalised medicine. AI is being used in colonoscopy to improve polyp detection, with results showing higher effectiveness than the human eye. AI is also assisting in the study of bacteria, with applications in microbiome research.

AIG Hospitals, which conducts over 2,000 surgeries per month, has incorporated AI to prevent “Code Blue” situations—medical emergencies requiring immediate intervention—saving an estimated three lives per day. AI-powered hospital beds at AIG Hospitals are under study, using sensors and algorithms to monitor patient activity and health conditions. AI is also being applied in predictive medicine, drug discovery, and diagnostics.

“All these are good. But will it replace me? No, it will not replace the doctor. But one thing is certain. An AI-savvy doctor can replace a doctor who doesn’t use AI,” he said. He identified data theft as a challenge in AI adoption, stating that stolen medical data is being sold. He also spoke about the need for AI regulation.

Prof P.J. Narayanan, Director of IIIT Hyderabad, stated that the centre is a translation lab established to apply digital technologies in healthcare delivery. AIG Hospitals is a principal partner in this initiative.

Prof Bari Raju and Raja Poladi of IIIT Hyderabad provided details on the CDiTH and its execution plan.

KCIS, named after F.C. Kohli, houses AI research groups at IIIT Hyderabad. The centre includes 50 faculty members and 500 researchers working in language technologies, computer vision, robotics, cognitive sciences, and advanced machine learning. Kohli Day is observed annually on 19 March to recognise the work of researchers and faculty.