This classroom page expands on ideas from the Episode 9 conversation with Ajay Shah, an economist and co-founder of the XKDR Forum who trained as an aeronautical engineer at IIT Bombay and has worked in academia, policy research and the Ministry of Finance. It was the first episode hosted by Shrreya Loomba and Aly Muhammad Dadwani as co-hosts.
The episode moves from the questions about what is worth doing that he inherited from his father, through Manmohan Singh's 1991 budget and what Bell Labs, RAND and the Cavendish Laboratory teach about research culture, to his argument about AI and learning, and ends on the one reform he thinks India needs most. The resources below turn those threads into things you can learn from, think with, explore, or teach. Nothing here is policy or investment advice.
Start here · Activity
Tutor, Critic, or Crutch?
Sort everyday uses of AI by whether they build your thinking or replace it. A sorting activity built on Ajay Shah's argument about AI and learning.
Start the activityLearn
Student-friendly explainers.
- LearnEssay
What Is Worth Doing?
Who Ajay Shah is, why he moved from engineering to economics, and the big ideas of the conversation: research culture, AI and reform.
Intermediate9 min read
- LearnExplainer
1991: The Budget That Changed India
The crisis and the reforms that pulled Ajay Shah back to India, explained without the jargon.
Beginner7 min read
Think
Questions, thought experiments, and challenges.
- ThinkExplainer
How Great Research Labs Work
Bell Labs, RAND and the Cavendish Laboratory produced some of the last century's biggest ideas. What did they get right about culture and incentives?
Intermediate8 min read
- ThinkActivity
One Reform for India
If you could make reforms for India's long-term growth, where would you put your effort? Split 100 points and compare with Ajay Shah's answer.
Intermediate10 min activity
- ThinkExplainer
Proofs Nobody Understands
If a computer proves a theorem but no person can follow the proof, do we know the theorem is true? A short explainer on an argument from the episode.
Intermediate6 min read
Explore
Reading lists and further resources.
Teach
Worksheets and classroom-friendly materials.