From Google Search to ChatGPT: How a 70-year-old Karnataka woman found her way home

A 70-year-old woman who went missing from her native place in Karnataka after accidentally boarding the wrong vehicle was reunited with her family in 16 days, after a team used artificial intelligence (AI), Google Search and local community networks to trace her relatives, officials said on Monday.

Razak Bi, a native of Ranebennur in Karnataka's Haveri district, had accidentally boarded the wrong vehicle and ended up in Nalasopara in Maharashtra's Palghar district on October 6.

Unable to find her way back home, she was taken into the care of personnel from Achole police station, who arranged for her to stay at Samarth Ashram in Virar Phata, officials said, according to news agency PTI.

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Google search, ChatGPT and woman found

Efforts to trace her family were subsequently undertaken by the Jeevan Aanand Sanstha (JAS), whose team used Google Search and ChatGPT to analyse localised information and identify possible leads. The team also reached out to local community networks to establish contact with her relatives.

"The Jeevan Aanand Sanstha (JAS) team, combining Google Search techniques with ChatGPT to analyze localized information, managed to contact police in Ranebennur. We also mobilised local community networks. It led us to her daughters, sons-in-law and nephews, who took her home on October 22," trustee Kisan Choure said, the PTI report added.

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Woman found after 16 days

The search culminated in her reunion with her family on October 22, after 16 days away from home. Her daughters, sons-in-law and nephews came to take her back, bringing the search to a successful conclusion.

Reflecting on the role of technology and community participation in tracing the woman's family, Choure said, "Technology shows the way, compassion brings families together."