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“I am the founder of Eedee, (a digital platform for performing arts teachers and schools). I have been a student of performing arts since age 5. It’s called Bharatnatyam. It’s an Indian classical dance form.
What I noticed (in the performing arts) was that people who interact with this field on a daily basis are students, parents and teachers. They currently have a well-integrated system when it comes to their studios. But when they get back to their home, the education does not translate beyond the classroom boundaries. I am bridging that gap with Eeedee.
People learning art from technology is not new. AI can actually enhance their learning process.”
Pranjali Chumbhale
There is this entire field of creative technologists. I see myself as a part of that, where people are trying to see how technology can enhance the creative works and not actually replace it, so that people can experience art in more than one dimension.
I think there are so many ways that you can integrate AI. I recently experimented with an augmented reality virtual photo booth. Things like these can give an interactive experience to the users. Also, on the stage [at concerts], there are many things that you could do with AI, like real-time lighting. I think AI can heavily elevate your experience that you get from interacting with the performing arts in the live settings.
People learning art from technology is not new. You’ll find tons of videos on YouTube where somebody is teaching something and people are learning from it. How AI can help is essentially by being in the learning journey and giving that qualitative feedback, and tweaking the learning journey, making it personalized based on the user’s goals, understanding their strengths and weaknesses. That’s where AI can actually enhance their learning process. I think AI has immense value in extending technology’s reach and value that end users get out of it. There is so much more intelligence that you can unlock.
(But), in the performing arts, I feel that there is a very emotional angle to it. In the form that I learn (Bharatnatyam), there’s very much involvement of the mind. Where your eyes are, your mind is, and the teacher is able to tell if you’re in that moment or not when you’re dancing. They might be able to guide you more in a more broad way than just the (correct) posture.
At the end of the day, I feel that the performing arts is a very, very human experience. That’s why it is very essential that there should be a human in the teaching loop, and at Eeedee I have kept the same core principle – that at the very center of it is a teacher as an institution. AI is enhancing their journey. It’s not replacing the teacher.”
Pranjali Chumbhale is the founder of Eedee, a digital platform for performing arts teachers, studios and students with users in Santa Clara County and across the country. She recently participated in Hacker Dojo’s entrepreneurship accelerator program in Mountain View.
