AI systems are not epistemologically neutral — they are silently rewriting your perceptual reality. Dr. Venkatesh Chembrolu presents a formally rigorous argument from IIT Mandi: consciousness is the fundamental ground of epistemology, and any AI ethics framework that ignores this is operating only at the surface level. Using category theory as a mathematical bridge, he models how human cognition transforms raw, objective data into semantic experience through a “co-limit of a semantic diagram” — perceived reality for a conscious agent.The central alarm: AI-generated digital worlds (Instagram, immersive environments) do not preserve the semantic structures of lived reality, creating cognitive dissonance and measurable mental health damage. Current AI ethics frameworks only moderate outputs — they don’t govern the mappings and transformations being applied to human perceptual fields.The concept Dr. Chembrolu introduces — perceptual sovereignty — is the most important contribution: citizens must have the right to know and choose how AI systems are transforming their lived experience, before they subscribe to those systems. Without this, we are collectively, blindly delegating our epistemological evolution to algorithms. The research at IIT Mandi’s EXMA Centre is building apps and tools that enhance rather than distort human semantic coherence.

About The Speaker:
Dr Venkatesh H Chembrolu is Associate Professor, Indian Knowledge System and Mental Health Applications (IKSMHA) Centre, IIT Mandi. He holds a PhD & MS in Applied Physics from Stanford University, USA and BTech in Engineering Physics from IIT Bombay, India. He leads integrative curriculum development in consciousness and wellbeing at IIT Mandi and he has received recognition for pioneering academic contributions to consciousness and IKS studies at the institute. Dr Chembrolu’s current research focuses on consciousness and perception studies, Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) and integrative wellbeing using Yoga, Pranayama and Indian Classical Music. He also explores generative AI-based storytelling for cognitive development in children. He has over 15 granted US patents in magnetic recording technology. He has published in top journals like Physical Review Letters, PRB and IEEE Transactions. He has been invited speaker and presenter at international conferences on both nanoscience and Indian psychology.