LUCKNOW, Jan. 29 -- The role of artificial intelligence in different spheres of life including medical, education and in day-to-day functioning was discussed during the second day of two-day AI Manthan 2026 organised by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University in collaboration with Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur on Wednesday. During the two-day programme, experts shared suggestions and views on the possibilities and utility of AI in higher education across the state. They unanimously agreed that AI is a present-day necessity and its use can ensure accurate outcomes and simplify many processes. AI can play a vital role in higher and technical education. The first technical session on the second day focused on AI in examination systems, question paper setting, and lab practicals in which Sagarika from IBM India spoke about the AI-based tool 'IBM BOB', which provides real-world data to students and assists them without needing extensive instructions. Prof MK Dutta, additional pro-vice chancellor, Amity University, Lucknow, spoke on "Generative AI with Computer Vision, Language Models, and Multimodal Learning in the Biomedical Field". He highlighted AI's role in cervical and breast cancer detection and predictive healthcare and mentioned the development of an AI virus-testing app capable of conducting multiple diagnostic evaluations. Prof Arnab Bhattacharya from IIT Kanpur spoke about BharatGen and Sovereign GenAI. He stressed the need for India to become self-reliant in AI through sovereign AI models based on indigenous data, languages, and culture. Work is ongoing to build a BharatGen AI ecosystem and language coordination projects, he said. Nitin Saxena from IIT Kanpur discussed "Recharge Uttar Pradesh with AI", highlighting AI-based government projects improving departmental efficiency, including AI tutor portals and applications used during the Mahakumbh. Later, a panel discussion on "How to Build Computational Facilities for AI in State Universities" was moderated by Prof Vinay Pathak, vice chancellor, CSJMU. Experts from IBM, Dell, and Intel emphasised teacher training and the need for better computing resources, LLMs, and industry-academia collaboration....