more-in Fourteen-year-old Jaiden John exudes a certain maturity and wisdom belying his age. While children of his age were toiling hard with classroom lessons, the tech-savvy lad was busy explaining a technology-driven platform at the exhibition centre set up as part of Cocon, an international cybersecurity conference here, far away from the comfort of his home at Meppadi in Wayanad district. Teamed up with a much older Navaneeth K.T, who is doing his third-year computer science at Calicut University, Jaiden was not at all overwhelmed, in fact, far from it. He was patient even with those visitors who came up with doubts, which were an insult to his intelligence, but kept explaining the finer points of their product. Having left conventional schooling in eighth standard, he has now enrolled with the National Institute of Open Schooling. When asked what prompted him to leave school, Jaden, who joined a course in web and application development at the age of eight, would only smile in response. But there was much bigger surprise in the offing when it emerged that the youngster has been doing his research in machine learning-driven cancer detection with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the past six months after his instructor in a technology course recommended him to the acclaimed university. “Machine learning-driven cancer detection will be of great help in the rural areas of India where medical service is not easily accessible. Detecting the ailment with the help of a simple device can be revolutionary,” he said. Jaiden and Navaneeth came together after they won an ideation contest conducted by the Kerala Cyberdome. They are now working on an artificial intelligence and machine learning-driven platform aimed at detecting helmetless two-wheeler drivers with the help of visuals.

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