Class 6 · Unit 1: AI and everyday life · Lesson 1.4 · 40 min

AI in Kashmir today

Apple scab spotted Uncle's leaves black last year. This year, scientists in Kashmir are teaching computers to spot it from a photo.

Today you will: Put five real AI uses on a map of J&K · Say who each one helps — and one risk · Invent an AI idea for your own area

Story

Hiba's uncle grows apples in Shopian. Last year, a disease called apple scab spotted his leaves black, and he lost part of his crop.

Uncle: “This year, scientists at the university are teaching computers to spot scab from a photo of a leaf, before it spreads.”

Bilal is amazed. "AI in our orchards? I thought AI was only in America!"

AI is not far away. It is already being built for Kashmir, by people from Kashmir.

Watch

AI in Kashmir today — — scan code 6.1.4 in the printed book.

Warm up your fingers

Skill: home row, A and ; (semicolon) (7 min)

On typing.com, open Beginner → "Home Row: A and ;".
Little fingers rest on A and ;. They are the weakest fingers, so go slowly.
Bonus: type the words alas and lad without looking down.

On the laptop

A simple outline of the valley with five pins: language, with Kashmiri on Bhashini; weather, with snow and rain forecasts; orchards, where AI spots scab from a leaf photo; saffron, with sensors for water and warmth; health, where AI helps read X-rays. A picture, not a real map.

Mission 1: The AI map of Kashmir (groups of 3, 15 min)

☐1
Open ai-kashmir.ods. Your teacher gives your group one fact card: Orchards, Saffron, Language, Weather or Health.
☐2
Predict: who will your card's AI help most? Say it before you read.
☐3
Fill one row: where · what the AI does · who it helps · one risk. Take turns typing.
☐4
Add one row of your own: a local problem AI might help with one day — traffic, lost sheep, flood warnings.

No laptop today?

Each group writes its row on chart paper, and the class sticks every row onto a big outline map of J&K on the wall.

Now you know

A leaf photo goes into a phone app that suggests scab and says check it; the farmer decides. But AI can be wrong, and not every farmer has a phone or internet — is it fair for everyone?

Built in Kashmir, for Kashmir: SKUAST-K's AI centre works on spotting apple diseases from leaf photos.
The same old tradition: Kashmir has long loved ʿilm — learning. Studying apple leaves with AI is that tradition with new tools, put to work for the people around you.
Five fields: farming, saffron, language, weather and health.
AI helps people decide. It doesn't replace the farmer's or the doctor's judgement.
Fair for everyone: AI makes mistakes, and not everyone has a phone or internet.

Debate it

An AI app can spot apple scab from a photo. But many farmers in remote villages have no smartphone or internet.

Is the app fair? What could make it fair for every farmer?

Check yourself — practice, not a test

1. Which apple disease is SKUAST-Kashmir teaching AI to detect from leaf pictures?
- ○ Apple scab
- ○ Chicken pox
- ○ Frostbite
- ○ Rust on iron
2. Match the field to what AI does:
Orchards · Language · Health
Match with: Translates Kashmiri, Urdu and English · Spots leaf diseases from photos · Helps doctors read X-rays
3. When AI helps a doctor read an X-ray, the doctor no longer needs to check it.
- ○ True
- ○ False
4. What makes Kashmiri harder for AI than English? (choose all)
- ○ There is less Kashmiri text and speech online to learn from
- ○ Kashmiri has no grammar
- ○ Fewer people have built tools for it so far
- ○ Computers cannot store Kashmiri letters

Remember

**AI is already working in Kashmir's orchards, languages and hospitals, and people like you will build the next ones.**

Story

Hiba's uncle grows apples in Shopian. Last year, a disease called apple scab spotted his leaves black, and he lost part of his crop.

Uncle: “This year, scientists at the university are teaching computers to spot scab from a photo of a leaf, before it spreads.”

Bilal is amazed. "AI in our orchards? I thought AI was only in America!"

AI is not far away. It is already being built for Kashmir, by people from Kashmir.

On the laptop

Mission 1: The AI map of Kashmir (groups of 3, 15 min)

☐1
Open ai-kashmir.ods. Your teacher gives your group one fact card: Orchards, Saffron, Language, Weather or Health.
☐2
Predict: who will your card's AI help most? Say it before you read.
☐3
Fill one row: where · what the AI does · who it helps · one risk. Take turns typing.
☐4
Add one row of your own: a local problem AI might help with one day — traffic, lost sheep, flood warnings.

No laptop today?

Each group writes its row on chart paper, and the class sticks every row onto a big outline map of J&K on the wall.

Now you know

Built in Kashmir, for Kashmir: SKUAST-K's AI centre works on spotting apple diseases from leaf photos.

The same old tradition: Kashmir has long loved ʿilm — learning. Studying apple leaves with AI is that tradition with new tools, put to work for the people around you.

Five fields: farming, saffron, language, weather and health.

AI helps people decide. It doesn't replace the farmer's or the doctor's judgement.

Fair for everyone: AI makes mistakes, and not everyone has a phone or internet.

Check yourself — practice, not a test

1. Which apple disease is SKUAST-Kashmir teaching AI to detect from leaf pictures?

○ Apple scab
○ Chicken pox
○ Frostbite
○ Rust on iron

2. Match the field to what AI does:

Orchards · Language · Health
Match with: Translates Kashmiri, Urdu and English · Spots leaf diseases from photos · Helps doctors read X-rays

3. When AI helps a doctor read an X-ray, the doctor no longer needs to check it.

○ True
○ False

4. What makes Kashmiri harder for AI than English? (choose all)

○ There is less Kashmiri text and speech online to learn from
○ Kashmiri has no grammar
○ Fewer people have built tools for it so far
○ Computers cannot store Kashmiri letters