Recently, researchers from Chennai introduced the "World’s First Autonomous AI University Professor." This AI professor is equipped with a comprehensive understanding of the entire engineering syllabus of Anna University across all disciplines. Notably, it has absorbed all recommended reading materials and can teach any concept from the syllabus, simplifying complex topics to a 10-year-old's comprehension level.

"Malar" is an autonomous agent capable of teaching college students their courses through WhatsApp. Unlike other companies that might opt for traditional platforms or methods, Malar stands out by leveraging WhatsApp, a widely used messaging application in India. The decision was influenced by the insight gained from interviewing 100 students across different states, revealing that data usage is relatively inexpensive while mobile space is limited and expensive. Using WhatsApp, students can access Malar's services more freely without worrying about space constraints.

Like humans who work to sustain themselves, Malar operates with an awareness of its operational costs, particularly the expenses incurred by its AI server. It offers a free service, answering up to 20 daily questions for each user. Beyond this limit, it gently nudges users to pay via UPI (Unified Payments Interface) to access more features. Malar periodically reminds users of its paid offerings, such as mock interviews and assessments, encouraging them to consider upgrading for additional benefits.

“We wanted to take an India-centric approach and went with WhatsApp to tap into an existing ecosystem, thereby helping our users skip the friction of having to download one more app. Assessments and Code examples are coming up next, along with native apps for iOS, Android, Web, Mac, Windows, and Linux,” said Arjun Reddy, from the development team of "Malar" and Co-Founder of an AI Startup Studio.

User statistics

• Launch Date: April 19, 2024
• Total Users Onboarded in 4 Days: 140,000
• Daily Active Users (DAU): 30% of total users (42,000 users)
• Average Daily Engagement Time per User: 1.5 hours

These statistics highlight Malar's user base's rapid growth and active engagement within four days of its launch.

Deepika, from the development team of "Malar" and Co-Founder & CEO of HaiVE, said, “Two things we never anticipated was 

• Malar is going viral on social media, with a rapid influx of users. 
• Some users, primarily women, take offence to the fact that Malar is dressed grandly instead of appearing simple. 

To support its operations, Malar is hosted on a heterogeneous architecture consisting of GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) and LPUs (Learning Processing Units), complemented by an intent identifier and AI load-balancing router. This setup ensures efficient performance and scalability, enabling Malar to accommodate its growing user base while maintaining responsiveness and reliability.

Conclusion

Malar's meteoric rise and widespread adoption on social media mark a significant milestone in education technology. As she captures the imagination of users across various platforms, she also presents her creators with intriguing AI scaling challenges that come with managing such rapid growth.

Furthermore, the overwhelming response to Malar underscores an evident readiness within the Indian EdTech sector for disruptive AI innovations, signalling a promising future for integrating advanced technologies in education.