LYNNFIELD — Lynnfield High School student Avi Shrivastava published a book on the refugee crisis, incorporating his love for data science and artificial intelligence to help predict where the next refugee hotspots will be.
Shrivastava, 17, has always had an interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and computer-science related subjects, as well as social work and social science.
For him, the best way to incorporate all of his interests was through a book where he analyzes data about social work.
“The book analyzes the best way to help the refugee crisis and the most important problems to solve,” he said.
Shrivastava began writing this book at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and kept working at it over the years, finally publishing it this past June.
“I feel like everything is coming together for me,” Shrivastava said. “It’s nice to see something that I’ve been working on for so long finally have a result.”
During the summer of 2020, Shrivastava took online courses in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) through Coursera at the University of Michigan and Stanford. He combined his passion for these subjects with his concern for refugees, after seeing people fleeing Afghanistan when the Taliban took over and how many children were being separated from their parents at the United States southern border.
“Seeing children getting separated from their parents at the border, it really hit home for me because I couldn’t imagine what life would be like without my parents,” he said. “That was my inspiration and through that, I started doing more research and getting more interested in the topic and here I am now.”
Shrivastava then began conducting research to incorporate AI into the book to predict the next hotspots for the refugee crisis.
“The book outlines the framework about how data science and artificial intelligence can help predict next refugee hotspots and how technology can help make refugee lives better as they move along in their journey of finding new homes,” Shrivastava said. “There is no limit to how data science and AI-based technologies can make a difference in the lives of refugees.”
His hope for people reading his book is that they can really see what problems refugees have to face in their daily lives and how people can help solve those problems.
“This book takes a deep dive into the refugee crisis around the world and takes readers on a journey of refugees, their plight at home, their horrendous life in refugee camps, and their difficult life in a new country where they get asylum,” Shrivastava said in his book description. “This book also informs readers about politics involving refugees around the world… (It) takes a look at how politics shapes the lives of refugees… and how politicians have used refugees to serve their political purpose.”
Shrivastava has a history of working with refugees in the area, hosting a donation drive last December where he collected educational supplies and nonperishable foods that were given to RIAC (Refugee and Immigrant Assistance Center) in Lynn.
Shrivastava plans to continue his research and work with refugees as he completes his senior year at Lynnfield High School in the spring. After graduation, he plans to double major in Data Science and Social Policy, hoping to attend either Washington University in St. Louis, MO or the University of Michigan.
Shrivastava’s book, Data Science/ AI – A Possible Panacea to the Plight and Politics of the Refugee Crisis, can be purchased on Amazon for $10.
Allysha Dunnigan can be reached at [email protected].
