Keen to improve India's abysmal crowd management record at large-scale religious events, organisers of the world's largest gathering of humans are using artificial intelligence to try to prevent stampedes. Organisers predict up to 400 million pilgrims will visit the Kumbh Mela, a millennia-old sacred show of Hindu piety and ritual bathing which began on Monday and runs for six weeks. "AI is helping us avoid reaching that critical mass in sensitive places," Amit Kumar, a senior police officer heading tech operations in the festival, tells AFP. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES