research on S Anand

Can AI discover new data visualizations?

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 15:15:52 +0800

Here’s my talk proposal for VizChitra 2026:

Description

There’s stuff I know AI can do.

Create data visualizations. I just tell it to convert a dataset into a treemap, and it does.
Hallucinate. That’s a fancy word for “make stuff up”. I prefer calling it “creativity”.
Run forever. As long as I have token budget and can summarize the context, it can go on.

What if we combine these? What if we asked it to do research? If infinite monkeys will almost surely produce Shakespeare, how long will it take for the greatest AI to discover a truly novel data visualization that is useful?

This isn’t a talk. It’s an exhibition.

I’m not presenting. My AI monkeys are. They’ll show off what new data visualizations they’ve discovered, given the following constraints:

It’s novel. Check and make sure it’s stuff we haven’t seen before.
It’s useful. It has to reveal insights from data (even a niche kind).
It’s beautiful. Visually striking and engaging.

My role will just be a narrator of their work - since they can’t speak (or… um… )

Actually, my role is an admirer and critic - since they can’t critique themselves (but… actually… )

Well, I’m the person who paid for their tokens and will therefore take credit on stage. So there.

Video

Links:

About the speaker

Anand’s an LLM psychologist @ Straive. He prods AI to understand how it thinks. It prods back, teaching him how HE thinks. He’s ex-IITM, IIMB, INFY, LBS, IBM, BCG & other TLAs. He transcribed every Calvin & Hobbes strip over 7 years. AI does that now in 7 min.

Finding old friends with Gemini

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 10:34:00 +0800

I was taking a bus past Mandaveli in Chennai, which reminded me of where I learnt mrdangam from Mr Melakaveri K Krishnamurthi between 1993-1996. So, after a few futile Google searches trying to find his whereabouts, I asked Gemini:

Tell me everything that you know about and the current status of Melakaveri K Krishnamurthi, Mandaveli, a mridangam artiste. His son Balaji is a mridangam artiste too

… and I learnt that:

Melakaveri K. Krishnamurthi is deceased. He passed away in the mid-2000s (likely around 2005 or 2006). His legacy is actively maintained by his sons, who organize annual “Remembrance Day” concerts in his honor.

None of my searches were able to figure this out.

Similarly, searches for my BCG-colleague Aravind Nayan yielded no results. So, I asked Gemini:

What happened to my colleague Aravind Nayan whom I worked with at BCG around 2002-2005 and he was also at Infosys BPO around 2008-2010 or so? Find everything you can about him.

… and after 5 minutes of deep research:

… I have identified a very strong candidate in Aravind Nayan Upadrasta, …

He now goes by his other surname - Aravind Upadrasta - which I didn’t know.

Definitive Proof: The bridge between the names is provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs Padma Awards Nomination List (2024), which lists an individual named Aravind Nayan Upadrasta with the status of OCI/PIO (Overseas Citizen of India). This document legally unifies the “Aravind Nayan” of the past with the “Upadrasta” of the present, confirming they are the same entity

Researchers, analysts, and detectives will find people research much easier, but ordinary people will find it useful too. For example, before meeting people, I ask:

Research X. Give me all news related to him since 2005, when I met him last.

Or, to explain what I’ve been doing since I met them:

Research me (Anand, Gramener/Straive) and crisply answer “What have you been up to since 2005?” not as a chronology but as a meaningful story.

Compexity Digest

Mon, 07 Apr 2003 12:00:00 +0000

Complexity Digest. A collection of articles on complexity from cyberspace. via missing matter

Accenture technology research

Fri, 22 Nov 2002 12:00:00 +0000

There’s some good tech stuff at Accenture’s R&D page. via andersja

Worlds funniest joke

Fri, 21 Dec 2001 12:00:00 +0000

The world’s funniest joke.

Subject specific scout reports

Sat, 19 May 2001 12:00:00 +0000

The subject-specific Scout reports, which were a prime source of my information, are about to be discontinued from the end of the month. (No funds.)

Annals of improbable research

Thu, 08 Feb 2001 12:00:00 +0000

The Annals of Improbable Research have sent all kinds of things by post. Almost two-thirds were delivered. I doubt if it would happen in India.

Keep 30 stocks

Wed, 31 Jan 2001 12:00:00 +0000

“Studies have shown that…” idiosyncratic risk in stocks is higher. So, have 30 stocks in your portfolio.

PR on the Internet

Sat, 12 Aug 2000 12:00:00 +0000

While hunting for some stuff on public relations on the Internet, I found 10 ways public relations specialists can use the Internet. Actually, the links are useful to anyone doing any news research. What’s Next Online, 12th July has a good writeup on how to research online. I did find some good Internet PR related links too on About.com, Connecting Online and Impulse Research.