A Concrete Cage: How Big City Living Can Squeeze the Life Out of You

 

Photo by Fabio Souto: https://www.pexels.com/photo/sao-paulo-urban-cityscape-with-modern-architecture-33263986/

Living in a big city is soul sapping, especially if you have grown up in a small town. You invariably move to a big metropolitan area for reasons of growth and ambition, attracted no doubt by tales you have heard of wealth and fortunes made by others when they similarly left their small town homes for the big city. But when you arrive there you are immediately intimidated by the scale of everything you encounter.

 Yet your ambition drives you on and you throw yourself into getting to know your new home and learning the big-bad city’s ways until you are fully incorporated into its pulsating rhythm.

 Slowly, but surely you achieve everything you ever dreamt of and often more than that. But the big city extracts a price in terms of changing the essence of you. It strips you of your simplicity and your sense of justice and fair play and feeds your ego in a manner that nothing comes in the way of your goals. Some hold on to some semblance of who they were once and find that comes in the way of getting ahead of others. Many take leave of their moral compass and make their life all about achievements, conquests and acquisition.

 A bigger house, a second and third house, a fatter bank balance, a trophy spouse, a luxury car, expensive holidays abroad and all that. You forget that your life is finite and with each passing day you have one day less to live. Living like there is no tomorrow wrecks your mental peace and your physical well-being.

 

It has to. Even machines break down. You are but a human being and cannot forever be in high gear in pursuit of more and more. Living in a big city puts you on a hamster wheel, where the purpose of your existence is satiating your never ending greed.

 

A big city is like an empire- it feeds on growth driven by pure unadulterated greed and ambition, which is accomplished by the exploration of others. Just like an empire had its heyday and a decline and a fall, one’s life and time in a big city gives you the highs and then lays you low. You suffer physical, mental and spiritual fatigue. A distance develops not only from your family and friends, but you yourself.

 

You feel the need to reconnect with who you were and rediscover the sense of peace and balance you once had. Going to live in a small town that is still connected with nature can help you do that. Live a simpler life with simple everyday goals like buying milk from a neighbourhood vendor or walking in the nearby woods inhaling air that is pure and not spiked with hydrocarbon fumes heals you physically and mentally and restores peace to your soul. The slower rhythm of life brings deep peace in your life allowing you to sleep like a baby. Every day you wake up to a morning that makes you feel that you are happy to be alive.

 

Keeping things simple and opting out of the race to acquire more makes your life worth living again. You value the time that is left for you to live much more, counting every second that you get to live a blessing. You finally do things that are truly important to you like spending time with the family and not staring at a computer screen. You read those literary masterpiece that you always wanted to instead of immersing yourself in inane and endless social media interactions. When you travel, it is with the intention of discovering a new place that you haven't visited before, but always had on your bucket list of destinations that fascinated you. You go there not to advance your career, but to please your inner self- your soul.

 

The big city will always be there, beckoning you with its beguiling charms, but you may no longer care for those. You have moved on.

 

 

 

 

 

A Mad World Made Madder by AI

Photo by Jan Kopřiva: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-wearing-red-hoodie-3281130/

 

The world looked like it had finally become a better one, at the end of the 20^th century. The Cold War was already a relic of history and a globalised world that preferred trade to war promised a future which was unmistakably bright. Countries around the world were growing richer and travel between nations by the peoples of the world was ushering in an almost utopian era of peace and prosperity. Russia the successor state of the erstwhile Soviet Union was no longer an enemy of the West and had in fact adopted a free market economy where all the major Western brands had a prominent place.

 

Western movies were freely shot in Russia often starring Russian actors and Russian airlines flew Boeing and Airbus aircraft. China became the flavour of the world, manufacturing every conceivable product for nations across the globe. India on the other hand excelled at technology services and became a force to be reckoned with in the world of software.

 

At long last, the world seemed to be getting its act together and choosing economic growth, peace and prosperity over strife and violence. There were conflicts, of course, in the Middle East, parts of Africa and elsewhere, but the general trajectory was in the right direction.

The world was gearing up to fight the greatest challenge to its very existence in the shape of climate change and it seemed that everyone was on the same page about what really mattered.

 

Until it all unraveled. Russia invaded and annexed Crimea and shattered the illusory era of peace and bonhomie that the world has begun to believe was normal. When its revisionist leader invaded Ukraine the world was dragged back decades to not just the Cold War era, but the times of Hitler and the Second World War.

 

And then Trump happened to the world. He took a hammer and dismantled the carefully constructed global order largely put in place by his own country, the United States. The phenomenal rise of China as an economic and military power, which America itself helped create now threatened the latter’s global hegemony and had to be checked. The way to do it was to destroy the rules based global order of trade which led to the emergence of other powers in the world that challenged the predominant nature of American power.

 

So that needed to be destroyed and an era of uncertainty unleashed upon the world where nations couldn't tell between friend and foe, as they could in the past. We now live in a dog eat dog world where things like climate change, fighting disease and chronic poverty are the least of any nation’s priorities anymore.

 

If things couldn't get any worse, we now have the spectre of AI or Artificial Intelligence and Robotics destroying every known profession. Doctors, teachers, lawyers, can drivers, factory workers, actors, artists, musicians and everybody else is on the verge of redundancy. This is going to inevitably happen and not in the very distant future.

 

As to who will benefit from this seminal translation is not clear. Will it be the governments of the world, the corporates or the people be in charge? Are we going to see the dawn of a brave new world where AI will take care of everything and mankind will be free to pursue higher interests or are we to replicate the scenario so well depicted in the Hollywood blockbuster Matrix?

AI Transforming Hiring and Recruitment

Photo by Alex Knight: https://www.pexels.com/photo/high-angle-photo-of-robot-2599244/

 

AI is being increasingly leveraged in the hiring and recruitment process by companies seeking to hire the best talent, as well as recruitment agencies and platforms that aim to provide the best possible candidates to their clients. Generative AI, in particular, has been found to be particularly effective in helping acquire talent.

From writing job descriptions and scheduling interviews to matching credentials with job requirements, AI has made the HR process smoother and much more efficient than before. Besides, AI frees up time that HR personnel would spend on mundane repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on forging relationships with potential employees who come closest in terms of their attributes to what a company expects from them (again determined by AI).

Among the things that drive efficiency in hiring and recruitment, thanks to AI, is the ability to adopt automated resume selection and engagement with the optimal candidate profile.  Apart from substantially bringing down the cost of hiring, the use of AI has made recruitment fair, transparent and entirely bias-free.

Digitisation of businesses across industries has resulted in a push towards AI adoption in hiring processes, helping usher in seamless hiring, a substantial reduction in the time taken to hire the most qualified-for-the-job personnel and an across-the-board improvement in the hiring process. As a matter of fact, businesses are moving from the use of stand-alone HR apps to integrated staffing platforms that come replete with a slew of hiring and recruitment-related services.

Interestingly, nontraditional players like major consulting firms are entering the hiring and recruitment scene by taking advantage of their technological assets to facilitate direct connections between employers and potential employees.[1] It is not surprising, therefore, that according to Gartner, 76% of companies have predicted that their organisations will adopt AI technologies within the next year to a year and a half.[2]

Given that AI, particularly GenAI, is going to play an increasingly important role in the hiring and recruitment processes, it makes eminent sense for companies everywhere to prepare themselves for it. They need to have a clear strategy in place with regard to what they aim to achieve by implementing AI in HR. It makes eminent sense to bring the HR departments in question up to speed with the capabilities and abilities of AI when it comes to streamlining the HR function. Of particular importance is the use of AI-powered chatbots for employee-facing tasks, the automation of administrative tasks, as well as the optimisation of the actual recruitment process by way of improving job descriptions and skills data management.[3]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[1] https://www.tcs.com/what-we-do/industries/high-tech/white-paper/ai-transforming-future-staffing-recruitment

[2] https://www.gartner.com/en/human-resources/topics/artificial-intelligence-in-hr

[3] https://www.gartner.com/en/human-resources/topics/artificial-intelligence-in-hr

Data Analytics for You and Me

 

Photo by Lukas: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-chart-and-bar-graph-669612/

Data they said was the oil of the 21^st century. Having access to the right kind of data and the ability to process it gave individuals, businesses, organisations and indeed nations power. That is why the demand for data experts or data scientists as the more qualified ones are called grew exponentially. In a scenario where strength and power were derived from being able to source and leverage high-quality data, the common people felt a loss of control and a feeling of being left in the dark with regard to where the world had reached and their ability to cope with it.

This lack of democratisation on the part of the data revolution caused widespread anxiety among the generations that were born and raised before the digital revolution. There was no attempt to demystify data analytics and explain to whoever wanted to know, how they too could use it to make the way that they worked or took the important decisions in life much more informed and efficient.

Understanding Data Analytics

Data analytics essentially involves going through raw data to arrive at certain conclusions, based on the information available to you. This is done with the help of varied techniques and processes that eventually help you enhance productivity.

To do this, you need to first obtain the data required and then segment it in a manner that you are able to zero in on identifiable patterns and trends, empowering you to make more informed decisions leading to better outcomes.  Much like in mining where you process the raw ore to obtain nuggets of the substance you need, data analytics helps you obtain valuable and useful information from within a very large amount of data comprising raw information as well as glimpses of potentially game-changing insights.

Data Analytics Made Accessible

 

Till very recently you needed highly trained data professionals to do the data processing as well as the extraction of relevant information that could be put to use by businesses and large organisations to enhance their efficiency and productivity. This meant that small businesses and organisations as well as individuals, who could not afford to hire the services of such professionals were deprived of the advantages of leveraging data analytics to achieve higher levels of efficiency and output at work.

But that was in the past and advances in technology have made it possible for anybody to reap he tremendous benefits of basic data analytics, thanks to the emergence of many user-friendly tools. This means that there are no longer any entry barriers to making data analytics available to whoever wants to use it.

Besides, there are a whole host of educational resources available online which can help you apprise yourself with the basic data analytics skills required to enhance the productivity and efficiency of what you are doing.  Among the uses that you can put data analytics to is to get a better handle on your customers' preferences, tracking your personal finances or even improving your health. Data analytics can help you make better informed and more -likely- to succeed decisions in a highly complex and competitive world. It can help you make smart decisions in a world where being able to leverage data defines how successful you will be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Digital Entertainment Attracts the Biggest Ad-Spends

Photo by Julian Hochgesang on Unsplash

 

In a country where the median age group is 28.8 years[1], it is not surprising that most people turn to digital entertainment rather than traditional forms like television and movies. The widespread availability of mobile devices makes it easy, convenient, and inexpensive to access a myriad of OTT channels, social media networks, online gaming platforms, and music streaming services.

Businesses, marketers and brand managers know that digital ad spending gets them the biggest bang for the buck and, therefore, have begun to spend more on that segment than traditional ones. This is especially true of digital entertainment that corners more than half of India’s ad spend. In fact, according to estimates made by industry, digital advertising could exceed a figure of Rs.70,000 crores ($8.4 billion) by 2026.[2]

 

The Rise and Rise of Digital Entertainment

There are several compelling reasons for this to have happened. The humongous smartphone penetration and the massive internet connectivity available in terms of sheer number of people with that kind of access make digital advertising the obvious first choice for brand managers across industries. With 85.5% of Indian households possessing at least one smartphone and 86.3% households boasting on-premise internet access, it is a no-brainer that most people have extensive access to digital entertainment.[3]

India’s youth-driven demographics comprising millennials, Gen Zers and digital natives are highly engaged with the large number of digital entertainment platforms and channels they have round-the-clock access to. That is in a sense a captive audience or almost low-hanging fruit for most marketers and brand managers.

Social Media platforms like Facebook, X, Instagram, Threads, YouTube[4] and so on are an integral part of people’s daily lives in India making them very amenable as platforms for digital advertising. With the average Indian spending more than two and a half hours a day on accessing social media channels, advertisers know that they have a good thing going by placing their ads there.

Besides digital advertising achieves greater penetration in smaller cities and towns across India, what with the growing popularity of vernacular entertainment content. This helps marketers and advertisers create very successful localised digital ad campaigns.

 

Add to that the fact that digital advertising not only returns better ROI on every rupee spent, but can also be monitored closely allowing modification and course correction based on performance and you can see why it is going to grow exponentially in the coming year and beyond.

Going forward one can look forward to a bonanza for both Indian entertainment content creators and the digital advertising industry, given the sheer size of the expected ad spend. Good times are certainly here for these two industries and will only get better as the digitisation bandwagon continues to roll on.

 

 

 

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[1] https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/india-population/

[2] https://www.cnbctv18.com/entertainment/digital-entertainment-now-drives-over-half-of-indias-ad-spend-ib-secretary-19628370.htm

[3] https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2132330

[4] https://www.google.com/search?q=average+time+spent+by+indians+on+social+media&rlz=1C1CHBD_enIN1066IN1066&oq=Average+amount+of+time+spent+by+Indians+on+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCAgBEAAYFhgeMgYIABBFGDkyCAgBEAAYFhgeMg0IAhAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMg0IAxAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMg0IBBAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMg0IBRAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMgcIBhAAGO8FMgcIBxAAGO8FMgcICBAAGO8FMgoICRAAGIAEGKIE0gEJMjM3ODRqMGo0qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Why Advertisers Ride Piggy Back on Television Entertainment Channels

 

Photo by Huỳnh Đạt: https://www.pexels.com/photo/black-crt-tv-2251206/

For all the growth seen by the online media, television continues to hold sway among the masses, especially when it comes to providing them with pure and unbridled entertainment. From sitcoms and family dramas to reality TV, music and, of course, movies, the television entertainment channels offer advertisers a captive audience of millions who watch their favourite content to unwind and relax their minds. This makes them much more conducive to engaging with the advertising in question than they normally would.

This is not lost on advertisers who happily leverage the daily viewing experience of their target audience to strategically woo them with advertisements that cleverly plug their products and services to a highly receptive group of people. With as many as 210 million households watching TV in India amounting to 892 million viewers television advertising in India packs quite a punch.[1] Though the overall share of television advertising has seen quite a fall against the backdrop of rapidly rising digital advertising, General Entertainment Channels led the television ad spend, cornering 41% of the total. This was followed by sports and movie channels, indicating that entertainment was the king of ad spending on television in India.[2]

The reasons behind the popularity of entertainment channels are many ranging from great audience reach¸ superior credibility, more focused targeting and better brand recall. Given that one of the major reasons behind the soaring popularity of digital platforms with regard to advertising is their ability to provide instant gratification and round-the-clock sensory stimulation to their target audience, one can view the popularity of television entertainment channels in a similar light.

Marketers and brand managers know this and are, therefore, quite happy to make entertainment channels a part of their advertising budgets. It is no coincidence that they often use the services of new age stars from the worlds of sports and cinema boasting a huge online following in the TV commercials they make to plug their wares.  For all the advantages of new age digital advertising, television still retains its relevance in the Indian market as an advertising medium of consequence.

For those writing the obituary of television as a viable communication medium in the digital age have been premature to do so. The medium is adapting and finding newer ways to stay relevant. With AI making rapid strides and already possessing the capability of creating world-class television commercials at a fraction of the current costs, who knows how that will impact the performance of television advertising in the times ahead? Television is far from a spent force and may soon see a resurrection yet.

 

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[1] https://www.barcindia.co.in/whitepaper/barc-india-tv-universe-estimates-2020.pdf

[2] https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/research/digital-dominates-e-commerce-ad-spend-in-2024-with-63-per-cent-share-report/120201062#:~:text=Amazon%20Online%20India%20was%20the%20top%20advertiser,radio%2C%20and%2023%20per%20cent%20in%20digital.&text=General%20Entertainment%20Channels%20(GECs)%20attracted%20the%20largest,cent%2C%20followed%20by%20Sports%20and%20Movie%20channels.

Artificial General Intelligence- Is it the way forward?

 

Graphic created by Google's Gemini AI

For all its capabilities, AI in its traditional form has a restricting sense about it. It can be very fairly accomplished in terms of its abilities but is far from able to replicate the full spectrum of what human ability can achieve. Whatever you achieve using the current AI model in terms of efficiency and output, it willy-nilly requires some form or level of human oversight at some level. All of this may change with the advancements made by what is known as Artificial General Intelligence.

Traditional AI vs. Artificial General Intelligence

While traditional AI is known to be super-efficient when carrying out well-defined tasks like translating languages, Artificial General Intelligence or AGI can comprehend, master and apply knowledge spanning a wide spectrum of tasks like what human beings do. This takes AI much closer to replicating human behaviour in all its dimensions, including the emotional one. It is not, therefore, surprising that all the tech majors of consequence including Google, OpenAI and Meta are very gung ho about AGI. As a matter of fact, there seems to be a race on amongst them about who will be able to announce the successful launch of this "paradigm redefining" technology.

Is AGI around the corner?

For Artificial General Intelligence to have truly arrived, it should have passed the Turing Test, which denotes that one cannot tell the difference between AI’s abilities and those of a human being. As far as researchers and academics are concerned, this Rubicon will not be crossed in a hurry taking anything from a few decades to even a few centuries.[1] For many, the prospect of a delayed advent is a welcome development given the potential of a technology that performs in a manner that is in every way equal to what a human performs, potentially devastating the prospects of gainful employment. They point out the fact that AI with its presently limited abilities is already leading to significant loss of employment and how much more destabilizing would a much more evolved form of AI be for human employment.

Why is AGI so impressive?

 

AGI is expected to cause a seminal change in virtually every aspect of human existence. The fact that this technology possesses human-like cognitive abilities makes its applicable in a universal manner, which is far from the case as of now. With capabilities like these, it can be expected that AGI would be able to provide solutions to intractable human problems like climate change and economic inequalities apart from finding cures for serious human illnesses.

Furthermore, AGI could carry out cutting-edge research and come up with new discoveries and technologies in the realms of medicine, space exploration, energy and so on. These would be breathtaking in the scope of their application, forever altering the human condition for the better.

AGI would lead to humongous gains in efficiency and productivity across industries requiring both repetitive and cognitive work freeing up humans to focus entirely on creative and strategic work. From perfectly managed factories to impeccable public services people would have it very good indeed in their day to day lives.

Viewing AGI as a collaborator

 

Ultimately technology has to be in the service of humans and not the other way round. To that extent, AGI has a future as a collaborator that works for human betterment and does not seek to supplant them. It can help augment human endeavour by enhancing the latter's intelligence and ability to be creative. With its unique ability to offer real-time insights and out-of-the-box ideas, as well as helping humans to process and comprehend complex information in a very efficient manner AGI can help humans make stupendous achievements. This outstanding synergy between humans and machines can usher in a brave new world that we cannot even begin to visualise in the present times.

 

 

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[1] https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/ https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-artificial-general-intelligence-agimckinsey-explainers/what-is-artificial-general-intelligence-agi