The Ecological Cost of the Digital Revolution

Every time you have some new discovery promising a phenomenal  and unprecedented transformation in people’s lives for the better, there is an inevitable scramble to get a piece of the action- the ecological, environmental, and social consequences of doing so be damned. This is as true of the unbelievable stock market bull run and the cryptocurrency mania of today as it was of the spice and ivory trade of ancient times.

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The current mad rush to digitise everything that exists on this good Earth is reminiscent of the unholy contest amongst the newly industrialised European powers a few centuries ago to carve out their colonies in the resource-rich Americas, Africa, and Asia and strip them of everything valuable. The glories that the age of digitisation promises discount the negative impacts of the inexorable race towards a non-analog future. Never mind that the world is already battling the problem of monumental electronic waste in the form of discarded phones, laptops, and batteries. Likewise, it doesn’t matter that the digital revolution requires gargantuan levels of electricity consumption to sustain itself, exacerbating an already precarious climate change scenario. Everything seems to be lost in the clamour of achieving ever-higher valuations by the leading tech companies of the world, especially the ones invested in artificial intelligence or AI.

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The social havoc being wreaked by relentless digitisation is all-pervasive. You can see it in the  children who, from a young age, get addicted to their electronic gadgets, with their appalling consequences for  their growth and development. Furthermore, the collapse of traditional ways and means of social networking for people across age groups, as well as the dangers posed by deepfake technology, are not things that can be swept under the carpet without reaping the most harmful consequences in the times ahead.

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Let us just look at the ecological costs of the so-called digital revolution and ask ourselves if it is worth all the trouble we are taking to herald it. For all the talk of the growing carbon footprint of our modern lifestyles and the need to avoid unnecessary travel, especially by fossil fuel-run automobiles and aeroplaneswe would be shocked to know that merely using the Internet contributes as much as 1.5% to 4% of the total global greenhouse emissions. 

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The inevitable proliferation of AI-powered devices, owing to these being touted as being absolutely indispensable for everyone in the times ahead, leads to a spectre of unprecedented levels of electronic waste. One can get some idea about what lies ahead by letting it sink in that the 2020 Global E-Waste Monitor report points to an e-waste generation of a whopping 53.6 million tonnes. Shockingly, of this, only a mease;y 17.4% had been collected and recycled.

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What is particularly worrying is the fact that, despite the fact that global digital activity is a relatively recent phenomenon, it has already contributed to 3.7% of total greenhouse gas emissions, according to a 2019 study, which is pretty close to the emission levels accounted for by the much maligned aviation industry. Worryingly, electricity consumption on account of digital technology grew by almost 70% from 2013 to 2020.

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The ecological cost of the digital revolution has to be weighed against its purported benefits by  way of enhanced productivity and profitability on the part of  business houses. Any expected ecological benefits accruing on account of more efficient use of resources and the ability to find solutions to some of mankind's pressing problems pertaining to healthcare, logistics, e-commerce and communication have to be measured against the ecological downside to using the ever expanding ambit of digital product and services. Rushing boldly and madly into the euphoric universe of all pervading rampant digitisation without pausing to study its accompanying negative ramifications is as foolhardy as it possibly can be.

 

Is AI Empowering Nincompoops to Pose and Prosper?

 

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We live in an era when people with the intellectual capability of a lemon and the integrity of a centipede position themselves as authors, thought leaders, mentors, consultants and the new age abomination, influencers. These are people who would be laughed out of a nursery class, sound like a sugar cane crushing machine and have the gravitas of a mill-stone. Yet, all they need to do is to turn to the array of wondrous AI tools, and voila- they turn into Booker prize level writers, Sigmund Freud type of psycho-analysts and David Attenborough kind of documentary makers! Democracy, they say, is a government of the people, by the people and for the people, which is all very well, but it needs a system based on meritocracy to really deliver the goods. 

With everyone and their uncle convincing each other in their very own echo chambers that they are all the salt of  the earth, there is no place for critical thinking or the pursuit of truthful knowledge, ultimately resulting in the downfall of us as a species that has the ability to achieve wonders beyond belief. The post-truth world that we are busy constructing doesn’t have a rosy future at all. It can ultimately only result in Artificial Intelligence taking over our planet and extinguishing the flame of human endeavour and achievement that has burned bright for hundreds of thousands of years.

When people turn to AI to do creative tasks for them, it simply rehashes what has already been created by humans. It efficiently analyses data and efficiently discerns patterns on the basis of which it comes up with something that it thinks best approximates the task assigned to it via prompt. This by its very nature is pretentious, often repetitive and not really worthy of trust. How long can this go on before AI runs out of answers and solutions it can churn out merely by regurgitating old data. We are told this will change when Agentic AI truly arrives. When Agetic AI truly arrives, why will it need to pander to the whims, fancies and caprices of human beings. It might do so on its own.

Agentic AI may or may not say the light of the day, but in the meantime we are saddled with the problem of morons masquerading as marvelous human beings. That is because the number of plainly stupid people now have an audience of fellow zombies to whom they can pitch their drivel and even profit from it, while the real work is performed by the really capable who bear the burden of the trouble caused by a gargantuan army of simpletons imagining themselves to be visionary profits.

Human beings lived as hunter-gatherers and cave dwelling beings not much better than the animals around them for hundreds and thousands of years without making any progress in their lifestyle until someone figured out that it is better to farm for food than to hunt or scour dangerous landscapes for sourcing it. Millions of idiots purveying their AI generated nonsense to their equally stupid followers will doubtless hope to do so in perpetuity. But how can an edifice based on incompetence stand forever?

Sooner or later people, even the most stupid ones will realise that they are all collectively chasing a chimera, which is not actually helping them in any real way. That will hopefully teach people to be careful about whom and what they trust when it comes to acquiring knowledge or skills that may be of use to them. The bells and whistles of technology that enable content creators to come up with seemingly slick presentations cannot forever hold their audience in thrall.

 They will have to come to their senses for their own good. Currently, they are hooked to the dopamine rush that such content gives them and are willingly letting this kind of content consumption become a dangerous addiction. The day they realise the harm they are doing themselves, will be the day that they return to the straight and narrow path of honest, diligent and genuine work that actually creates value for themselves and others.

Algorithm-The Tyrant

 

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The world seems to have been taken over by the algorithm, which dictates who becomes a winner or loser in life, not based on merit, but on predecided criteria created merely to enrich the businesses who offer the platforms for people to carry out transactions in their day to day lives. As technology permeates everything we do in the present times ranging from work and recreation to banking, healthcare and communication, the stranglehold of the algorithm is no different than the pernicious hold of the subject nation’s economy by an erstwhile colonial power.

The powers that be who control the algorithm are driven by profit and will devise any mechanism to achieve that even if that means fanning fluff and hype with the intent of monetising it to the utmost. By offering efficiency they seek to wrest total control of people’s faculties, taking away from them the ability to be objective and capable of independent decision making.

When your choices with regard to where you eat or travel to, what clothes you wear and even whom you befriend are dictated to by an algorithm primed to enhance engagement or some online platform you lose out on free will. Remember the Matrix movies? Those scenarios are playing out pretty much all around us all the time. People are known to drive off cliffs and bridges and die following GPS instructions rather than use their common sense and ask someone for directions. 

The classical battle between free wheeling capitalism and stifling communism has no meaning in an algorithm driven society that thrives for homogeneity. Ironically, this is the result of the former rather than the latter. The digitisation of the world, for all its ability to connect countries across the world like never before has at the same time become the personal fiefdom of a few monopolies who reap the major share of the profits it generates.

If you were to drive along a major highway in most countries of the world, the sameness of the facilities available in terms of motels and major international fast food chains and restaurants is remarkable. People find comfort in the familiar and the role that algorithms play in conditioning them to think that way is something that is or should be a cause for immense worry. They have become quite passive in their approach to most activities in life. This loss of the individual self in favour of comfort and ease of existence is a tragic fall from grace for humanity, but who seems to care?

There are algorithm induced personal recommendations catering to every need and fancy, making people slaves of instant gratification and unable to appreciate the immense benefits of delayed satisfaction of wants and desires. This leads to them living life like a candle burning at both the ends--flicking their way to nothingness, in terms of how they evolve as individuals. Shortened attention spans mean that people chase viral or trending news, losing their ability to discern fact from fiction and knowledge from plain rumors and conspiracy theories. The absence of any kind of quality curation thanks to the rapacious and greed driven nature of most algorithmic settings is wreaking havoc with the collective psyche of the world, leading people to a scary abyss of ignorance, apathy and dysfunction.

As with any other tyranny, the tyranny of the algorithm needs to be overthrown. By allowing a generation of Attention Deficit Disorder afflicted youngsters to normalise algorithm directed behaviour is akin to turning them into sheep, herded into restricted pens by a malevolent shepherd bent upon controlling them for the rest of their lives for personal profit. The exponential growth of AI has added a new urgency about how to give back people the control of their lives in terms of every aspect of how they live it. 

Youngsters need to be taught to think beyond what is recommended to them and learn to think for themselves rather than try endlessly to conform to whatever the online world throws at them. Being in control of one’s online activities in terms of how much of your own life you put out there, and learning to recognise and connect with authentic sources is an important first step. Choosing to experience more and more of your life in the real world rather than synthetic algorithmic bubbles will help you hone your critical thinking skill in a manner that you are no longer slave to anyone else’s ideology. Choose the path of freedom.

Can you use AI to transform marketing?

 

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With AI leaving or expected to leave its stamp on every business and profession known to mankind, is it possible that it would not leave its imprint on marketing? Can it empower marketing professionals to perform significantly better, helping them connect better with their prospects and thereby obtain superior results?

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There’s a lot that AI can help marketing managers with. It can help launch whole marketing campaigns powered by deeper market and customer insights that engage and convert prospects at scale as well as with efficiency. AI can help with a whole host of things that range from running chat bots, implementing automation of tasks, and managing social media. Marketing professionals can turbo charge their output by using AI with tasks ranging from writing copy, understanding market data, and so much more in practically no time-something which took long hours in the past.

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That AI is considered indispensable by more and more marketers is borne out by the 2024 State of Marketing AI report brought out by the Marketing AI Institute that has many marketers express their appreciation of the role AI plays in their daily workflows, going so far as to suggest that “they couldn’t live without AI.”

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AI helps marketers collect data and analyse it so as to obtain very useful customer insights. Besides, it helps  speed critical decision-making. Leveraging cutting edge technologies like natural language processing as well as machine learning, marketers can deploy AI to generate content, enhance team productivity, as well as provide better customer experiences. McKinsey reports that AI adoption across the globe in 2024 had reached as high as 72%

Generative AI is a major driver of increased AI adoption.

Marketing departments around the world are increasingly using generative AI to create highly personalized marketing collateral, as well as using critical insights culled from customer data to progressively enhance and evolve existing marketing strategies. In light of the fact that marketing departments are in possession of vast amounts of data collected from multiple sources, it is in the best interests of most companies to use AI to fully leverage these in order to stay competitive in today’s digital age.

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AI Helps Optimise ROI of Marketing

AI marketing tools empower marketers to zero in on the precise initiatives or actions required to reach out to one’s target audience in the most effective manner possible with the help of actionable insights obtained from an ongoing campaign in real time. What’s more, these can also help point out the right media to buy into, going to the extent of placing ads in the most impactful manner on the basis of insights received about customer behaviour. AI-backed marketing solutions are, therefore, quite outstanding when it comes to optimising the ROI of marketing campaigns.

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Better Handle on Key Performance Indicators

Marketing campaigns these days are primarily digital, and are, therefore, able to generate huge amounts of data, which can best be managed and put to use with the help of AI. This allows marketers to identify precisely which tactics are resulting in the best performance and which ones need fine tuning or improvement.

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Optimal Leveraging of Data Analytics

AI is great at letting businesses collect large amounts of relevant data, which can then help them derive very keen insights and  trends that would otherwise be almost impossible to discern. It can help them make much better campaign decisions on account of its superior analysis of data leading to better results.

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Superior Customer Interaction

AI powered chatbots are revolutionising real time customer interface, helping resolve queries quickly and efficiently. These can provide personalised advice that makes the purchase experience a very pleasant and useful one for the prospects and customers in question. While these may not be able to replicate the warmth of a real human interaction, they do tend to help a much larger number of people get a quick resolution to their product or service related issues.

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The Programmatic Advertising Push

The buying and selling of digital ads has been transformed thanks to the advent of AI powered programmatic advertising. It entails the algorithmic analysis of real time user activity, in order to be able to deliver ads to absolutely the most receptive prospects at the precisely right moment, thereby getting the maximum returns on the ad-spend.

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AI in Marketing-the path ahead

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The jury is divided about how effective will the use of AI in marketing really be in the time ahead. While the use of AI in marketing is catching up fast, it is by no means all pervasive with a lot many organisations not really hopping on to the AI- powered marketing band wagon. While AI is certainly helpful in enhancing productivity, there are those who worry about a corresponding decline in the quality of work, especially with regard to creative endeavours.

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In light of the above it would be best to use AI to augment human effort in the realm of marketing and not undermine it. This ties in with the larger debate about the role of AI in human endeavours. Is it merely a disruptor viewing everything with a productivity driven lens or is it primed to help humans achieve more by becoming better at whatever they do?

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Stop overhyping AI

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 In an era where tech companies have managed to achieve mind-boggling valuations thanks to the enormous hype surrounding AI and its ability to drive change, innovation, and extraordinary growth, it is perhaps time to step back and assess whether AI is really all that it is touted to be. What we are currently witnessing is reminiscent of the colonial powers discovering the New World’s riches and salivating at the prospect of raking in all the untamed resources and unimagined wealth all for themselves. The AI boom is premised on immense greed.

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Greed on the part of the tech giants to make unheard of wealth for themselves, even while they sell the dreams of a much better life to the billions of regular folk, is what defines the so-called AI revolution. No other technology since the times of antiquity has so little to show for what it has actually achieved. As a matter of fact, AI has become more of a marketing buzzword for many companies around the world who push their products and services to gullible consumers as AI-enabled and, therefore, somehow better for them.

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Just because a technology promises to do something with unparalleled efficiency does not necessarily make it better for mankind. All the material progress made by humans since the industrial revolution has come at a significant cost, in the shape of environmental damage and the considerable loss of plant and animal habitat. The ability to sail across the oceans, which led to the colonisations of the Americas, decimated the local populations and their civilisations, and led to a change in the flora and fauna of the land with the introduction of non-native plant and animal species by the colonisers.

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The tech companies are well on the way to becoming the 21st-century equivalent of the American Fruit  Company that ravaged Guatemala with its neo-colonialist labour practices and even led to the creation of the term banana republic, by capturing all the local levers of power. The threat posed by tech behemoths like Google, Meta, and Microsoft is universally recognised, with steps being taken to restrict and restrain any unfair trade practices these companies might indulge in by governments across the world, including in the US. The fact that these companies, among others, are at the forefront when it comes to deploying and monetising emerging AI technologies makes it important for everyone to study their offerings carefully and see if they actually provide any real value.

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If doctors, journalists, technology specialists, pilots, teachers, and everybody else relied primarily on AI technology as it exists today, there would be hell to pay. Leave alone replacing people, except in the case of the most basic of repetitive jobs, AI cannot be left unattended to autonomously fill in for humans, simply because it is, for now and the foreseeable future, too dumb to achieve or accomplish anything worthwhile. All its so-called amazing capabilities are in the realm of fantasy and imagination. These are presently are no superior to a magician’s petty tricks and smoke and mirrors deception. They say that once Agentive AI capabilities are achieved, this may be possible. But that is something that may not happen, or if it happens it might be many many years hence. So, in the meantime, let’s not worry ourselves sick worrying about job losses on account of greater and greater adoption of AI. If we cut through the hype, we will find that their AI has hardly inspired enough confidence in its users to warrant such fears. I don't know of one person who would prefer a chatbot to a live person when it comes to resolving one’s queries about anything.

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It is nobody’s case that AI as a technology should not be harnessed for its abilities to lighten workloads and, where possible, make work more efficient. But reposing blind faith in it and singing hosannas to it does nothing but raise the crazy valuations of leading tech companies, which many are saying is leading to an inexorable grand collapse of the global stock markets. The technology has to be evaluated for what it presently offers and what it might offer in the years ahead in a rational and level headed manner and not with a devotee’s zeal.

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Human-Machine Interface-Is it a Good Thing?

 

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Human-machine interface is something that we are all living with most of our waking lives, ever since smartphones slowly became a must-carry accessory for most of us. Without our realizing it our relationship with our smartphones became as intimate as it was with our heartbeat. We use it to communicate, work, shop, bank, entertain, look after our health, and so much else besides. We suffer pangs of intense separation anxiety if we are denied access to it. In Elon Musk’s words, we are already cyborgs, albeit very inefficient ones, given how much we rely on smartphones and computers in our day-to-day existence.

Going forward, this reliance on machines and computers is only going to grow exponentially, as evidenced by the fact that technologies like machine learning, robotics, and artificial intelligence are increasingly permeating most fields of human activity and endeavor. This is presumably going to usher in unimaginable levels of efficiency, productivity and growth. But the question we perhaps don’t pay enough attention to is at what cost. Let’s hark back just a mere two and a half decades back and look at life then. By all accounts, it was still a very modern and technologically advanced world.

There were super-fast aircraft and trains, the most amazing automobiles, extremely reliable telephone networks, and the ever-reliable fax machines for instant transmission of documents to every corner of the world. People were connected better socially, as they spent more time in face-to-face meetings, and the loneliness epidemic that has made people so prone to depression in today’s world was not the huge problem it is today. People were genuinely aware of things and didn’t have a superficial knowledge that seems to be the norm these days amongst the so-called digital generation.

People back then actually read books, newspapers, and magazines to acquire both knowledge and communication skills. The less one talks about the communication skills and the ability to dive deep into a subject and learn about it in intimate detail, when it comes to most Gen Z youngsters, the better it is. There are literally kids these days who would lose their way back from the office if they didn’t have Google Maps to guide them.  If you showed them a physical paper road map, they would probably not be able to follow it.

If all the digital systems were to fail overnight, the 21st-century-born kids would now know what to do to get about their daily lives. How good is the appalling reliance on technology, when animals relying merely on instinct are able to get from one place to another with ease?  There definitely needs to be much more research carried out about the impact of prolonged interface with electronic gadgets on young people born in the 21st century.

Humans have a long history of technological innovation, dating back to prehistoric times, which has enabled them to become the dominant life species on planet Earth, allowing them to accomplish many wondrous things. The harnessing of fire, the invention of the wheel, and a multitude of incredible scientific discoveries have made humans own the world on land, sea, and the skies and beyond, and in the process given mankind the ability to live a life that the gods of yore would envy. So, technology by itself is not a problem. It is giving precedence to technology, as seems to be the case these days, that is worrisome.

There is an old adage that goes you eat to live, you don’t live to eat. The same could be applied to technology. Technology should serve human beings; human beings should not serve technology. The problem that the world faces is that the world’s technology behemoths are dictating a surrender to increasingly autonomous artificial intelligence entities who will deploy or not deploy human resources as they see fit, with the intention of generating maximum profits for themselves. There is nothing that is happening for the greater good of mankind. That AI may one day turn rogue and turn on the human race itself is a clear and present danger we should clearly worry about. We have to take a call about how much technology is really good for us and where one should be drawing the line.

Love affair with motor vehicles in pre liberalisation India

 

                                                 

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For millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha, India of the very recent past may as well have been the proverbial land of snake charmers. With so many flashy car brands offering a host of cutting edge features buzzing up and down India’s many roads and highways across its many cities, towns and increasingly villages, they would conjure up images of a medieval dystopia about what was after all a very modern 20th century India with myriad outstanding achievements to its credit.

It is true that before the launch of the Indo- Japanese Maruti-Suzuki 800 in the early 1980’s most Indian cars and motor vehicles were outdated, sluggish and inefficient when compared with what was driven in other countries around the world, including our neighbouring ones. The liberalization of the Indian motor vehicle sector continued into the 1990s,  dazzling the people of the country with the world’s leading automobile brands. Apart from Suzuki, the likes of Honda, Kawasaki, Mazda, Opel, Ford, Chevrolet, Nissan, Isuzu, Daewoo and many other renowned motor vehicle legends graced the Indian roads ushering in the modern Indian automobile revolution. Today the Indian automobile market has some outstanding international and homegrown car brands to cater to the needs of the country's huge middle class and its increasingly large number of millionaires and billionaires. The roads of cities and towns throughout the length and breadth of India see all manner of cars these days- from the humble hatch backs to luxury vehicles from the stables of Mercedes, BMW, Audi, and Jaguar, not to speak of sporty SUVs where the bigger the better is the mantra.

But that does not mean that the pre-liberalisation generation of India did not have its own love affair with motor vehicles of which the country in fact boasted a rich tradition and history harking  back to the earliest days of the twentieth century. The maharajas and the British high officials of the day were the first ones to use automobiles in India. By the time the country gained independence, the well heeled among the local populace too started owning cars.

This was the era of premium luxury automobiles which reflected the class and status of their owners. Brands like Rolls Royce, Plymouth, Bentely, Chevrolet,and Buick were owned and flaunted by royalty and wealthy business people like the Parsees. Other well to do people had their Morris Minors the precursor to the grand old Ambassador car the emblem of pre liberalisation India of languid pace.

Some enterprising Indians would dazzle their compatriots by buying contemporary foreign brands of cars at auctions conducted by the State Trading Corporation and driving around the streets of large cities like Mumbai and Delhi. Imagine the looks of envy when someone would drive by in their massive Chevrolet Caprice among a sea of dreary  Ambassadors and Fiats!

The children who grew up in the 1970s to 1980s, however,  carry vivid memories of the era of stately and graceful, if lumbering vehicles that took them to their destination albeit not at today's frenetic speed to this day. It was the era of the great Indian triumvirate of Ambassador, Fiat and Standard cars which remained pretty much the same vehicle barring a few minor and cosmetic  upgrades from time to time for decade upon decade. Other much loved vehicles from that era were the Matador Van and the Jonga jeeps and the Shaktiman trucks, which were used largely  by the army. All the buses and trucks were from Tata and Ashok Leyland, save a few by Hindustan Motors and some by Dodge, which one saw occasionally.

Among the two wheelers, it was the Bajaj Chetak scooter that ruled the roost, alongside the stately Lambretta. The most coveted of the bikes was the Enfield Bullet 350, with its iconic thumping sound which the armed forces and the police forces of the country bought in large numbers. The Yezdi and Jawa bikes were also very popular among the young for their stylish appeal. The Rajdoot Mini, which Rishi Kapoor popularised in his debut film Bobby, was also quite popular with the young and trendy. Rajdoot also mass produced other bigger bikes for the masses, including milk-men who would attach large cans of milk to either side of a bike and go on their daily deliveries.

Three wheelers from Bajaj and Lamberetta became the poor man's taxi, with the larger Tempo three wheeler with its distinctive growl being used to ferry goods across short distances. 

These vehicles coexisted with bullock carts, cycle rickshaws and interesting hybrid vehicles like old American second world war leftover Hardly Davidsons being repurposed in Old Delhi as the iconic Phut Phut rickshaws capable of carrying six to eight passengers.

Automobiles had character in those times and people loved their cars and bikes dearly, almost like a family member, as they often were with them for years, sometimes even decades. It was a very different time, when cars didn't have air conditioning, but small electrically operated fans to circulate a weak breeze amongst the passengers. Other cars would show up with straw mats on the roofs of their cars on which their owners would spray water on hot summer days, to create some manner of primitive air conditioning. 

Those were indeed very different times, but splendid times, nevertheless. Like the old Dylan song goes- ‘the times,  they are a changin.” It's a pity they are.

India’s tryst with ethanol

When I was in school, I learned about how Brazil transitioned to largely using ethanol-blended fuel for its automobiles, as it could source it from sugarcane, which grows in abundance in Brazil. Given that India has always relied excessively on imported petroleum products to power its automobiles, I had wondered then why India, which, along with Brazil, is among the top two sugarcane-growing nations in the world, shouldn’t follow suit?  Doing so would not only have shaved off billions from India’s import bill, but it would also have made it less susceptible to geo-strategic blackmail like the one it finds itself subject to on account of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

​While India is trying to pivot away from its reliance on imported oil by stepping up domestic oil exploration and encouraging the widespread adoption of EV technology, it is in leveraging its natural advantage of being home to one of the largest agriculture-based economies in the world and making a move to biofuels like ethanol that it may find true energy security. While oil is messy, polluting, expensive, and causes global warming, the EV industry is heavily reliant on Chinese imports, making it a potential security nightmare. Besides, EVs or electric vehicles are non-polluting only if the electricity used to charge them is produced in a non-polluting way. With most of India’s power plants being coal-powered, going for large-scale adoption of EVs might not help fight the raging pollution levels across the Indian urban landscape. The advantages of using ethanol are many. These include, among other things, better engine performance, higher fuel efficiency, and the kicker being ensuring the energy security of the nation.

Photo by Atlantic Ambience

​India’s ethanol journey

 India embarked on an Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme in the early 2000s and has gradually enhanced the ethanol component in the fuel mixture from 5% to the present 20%. A 10% target was achieved five months early in June 2022, and an even more impressive 20% target was achieved by July 2025, an incredible five years ahead of schedule. The government caught on with the potential of using ethanol as a game changer at a particularly fortuitous time, given how global warming is having a visible impact across the length and breadth of India, and the tumultuous global geo-strategic landscape is impacting the nation’s ability to secure its energy needs.

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The Path Ahead

One of the biggest hurdles in the adoption of ethanol-blended fuel in India is the large number of old vehicles that may not be entirely suited to running efficiently on it. The newer vehicles have no such issues. As a matter of fact, automobile manufacturers in the country should look at making flexible fuel vehicles like they have for years in Brazil, capable of running on variable proportions of a petrol-ethanol blend. Brazil even has vehicles that run on pure ethanol, comprising 95% ethanol and 5% water.

​It is heartening that major Indian automobile companies have stepped up to the plate with their plans to foray into the exciting world of flexible fuel vehicles. With the government planning to extend the same incentives that it extended to EV manufacturers to flexi-fuel vehicle manufacturers soon, the future for rapid adoption of such automobiles seems to be quite bright. In the meantime, it is important that the required fuel dispensing infrastructure be developed and people be made aware of the benefits of using flexible fuel vehicles, also known as FFVs.

​Making a move to an ethanol-blended fuel dispensation does have its critics, who argue that the fuel is not compatible with a large number of old vehicles used in the country. Then there is the whole argument about the diversion of food crops like rice and maize towards ethanol production, which might impact the hard-fought-for food security of the nation. Other possible problems could be in the shape of using sugarcane and other water-intensive crops in the manufacturing of ethanol.

​However, given the vastness of India and the natural resources it possesses, these are not deal breakers, and solutions can be worked out that adequately address these concerns. India’s tryst with ethanol has been a fruitful one, and continuing down this path will help the nation secure its energy needs for all times to come.

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The Indian Wellness Industry is Growing and How

 

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India, the birthplace of yoga, the millennia-old system of achieving physical, mental, and spiritual wellness, is rightfully seeing a huge rise in the formal wellness industry. That a land which always emphasised that the purpose of life was to strike the right balance in whatever one undertook in life, should now prioritise personal well-being over mindless “growth” and accumulation of material assets, is something that signifies a homecoming of sorts.

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People have come to understand that the conventional approach to healthcare and wellness, which often involves expensive treatments and healing, is all very well, but adopting a preventive, wellness-oriented lifestyle may help them lead fuller and healthier lives. India, with its traditions of yoga and ayurveda, which evolved from the soil of this land, is best suited to evolve a wellness culture that combines the ancient wisdom of the land with the best modern scientific practices in the realm of health and wellness.

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Given the growing awareness of lifestyle diseases resulting from modern, fast-paced lifestylesit is not surprising that the Indian health and wellness market achieved an impressive market size of $156 billion in 2024. This figure is expected to reach as high a figure as $256.9 billion by 2033, representing a CAGR growth of 5.3% in the 2025-33 time period.As a matter of fact, India is poised to benefit substantially from the growing international wellness tourism industry as well, which is expected to reach $1.3 trillion in size this year.  

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There are several factors that are propelling this stupendous growth in the Indian wellness industry in particular, which is expected to achieve a market size of $72 billion by the end of 2025. The Indian  corporate wellness market, which achieved a creditable $639.1 million revenue in 2024 is projected to hit $809 billion in 2030 representing a CAGR of 4% in the 2025-30 time period.

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The employment generation potential of the wellness industry too is quite large on account of the growing demand for qualified and experienced professionals who can help wellness companies meet the ever growing demand for their products and services. This is amply demonstrated by the fact that the beauty and wellness segment employs as many as 12.3 million people. What’s more, 66% of such employees are women. Hearteningly, the number of people employed in the sector is expected to grow to about 20.3 million by 2027.

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Furthermore, in light of the growing importance given to personal wellbeing in the post pandemic era, more and more people are looking to India for solutions, given its association with yoga, ayurveda, and a rich age age-old tradition of turning to nature for wellness and good health. Large numbers of Indian and foreign tourists have started taking regular wellness holidays. This explains why the Indian wellness tourism  industry boasted a value of $19.43 billion in 2024, which is expected to reach $29.88 billion in 2031, achieving a CAGR of 6.45%.

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One of the most important reasons for the rapid growth of the Indian wellness industry has to be the massive growth in digitisation witnessed in the country. With a very high smartphone penetration, more and more people are accessing wellness services via healthcare apps and online platforms.

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The government’s promotion of digital healthcare through its Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission has played an important role in raising awareness about the need for a comprehensive digital health approach in the country. It is not surprising, then, that the Indian digital fitness and welfare platforms market is already valued at $1.5 billion.

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The Indian wellness industry is definitely a bright spot on the Indian economic horizon, with plenty of tailwinds to ensure its exponential rise in the times ahead.

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The Indian BFSI Sector is where all the growth is

 

AI-generated image

The Indian BFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance) sector has seen humongous growth over the last two decades, having grown in GDP from Rs. 1.8 trillion in 2005 to Rs. 91 trillion in 2025- a whopping 50X rise in value.[1]Apart from the burgeoning size of the economy and the accompanying rise in consumption of financial services, the greater inclusion of people living in tier II and tier II cities has also given a fillip to the sector, with aspirational spending leading to a lot of the credit growth. The government, on its part, has gone out of its way to ensure that more and more people join the formal banking system via Aadhar and the e-kyc aided simple account opening process. It has also helped put in place a highly efficient Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system to reach funds directly to the beneficiaries in their bank accounts, helping ingrain banking habits in a larger and larger number of people.

The highly successful and transformational digital payments revolution in the shape of UPI or Unified Payment Interface has put India right at the top of the world with regard to real-time payment transactions. Fintech startups have played their part in the growth of the sector on account of their tie-ups with banks, helping the latter make their services vastly more accessible as well as customer-friendly. The BFSI sector has, in fact, been a frontrunner with regard to the use of data analytics and AI to help take its services to the next level. The widespread use of mobile banking is a sterling example of how technology can help improve the reach and efficiency of Indian banks.

Exponential Growth of Credit

The Indian middle classes have taken to credit like never before, allowing banks to achieve double digit growth in terms of credit uptake. This is particularly true for retail loans helping people finance the purchase of houses, vehicles, and even personal expenses. The scope of growth for credit to the private sector is quite good, given that India’s domestic credit to the private sector stood at 55% of the GDP in 2020, which is quite less than the global average of 148% according to World Bank figures. Compared to Chain’s 128% of GDP, South Korea’s 165% and even Vietnam’s 148% India can do much better on this front in the days ahead.[2]

Low Insurance Penetration

As a low insurance penetration nation, the scope of growth for insurance products is immense in India. With a mere 4% penetration in 2023, the sky is the limit when it comes to industry growth. The good news is that the Indian insurance industry already boasts a Gross Written Premium (GWP) in excess of $130 billion and an 11% CAGR (from the fiscal year 2020 to the fiscal year 2023.)[3] IRDAI, the body that oversees the Indian insurance industry, has initiated a number of reforms that have made insurance products much more accessible and easier to understand than they were in the past. The emergence and growth of private players has led to a number of benefits, including a rise in investment and the deployment of technology accompanied by a discernible rise in efficiency. Besides, the more liberal foreign investment policies have made global insurance majors look at the Indian insurance sector with renewed interest.

The Indian FinTech Revolution

The Indian FinTech revolution has made the world sit up and take notice. The smooth roll out of the universal digital payments system UPI has impressed nations from across the first and the third worlds. The Indian FinTech revolution has been fueled by the large scale adoption of innovative digital technologies that help meet the demand for efficient and cheap financial services and products. It is not surprising that the Indian FinTech sector has received $20 billion plus investment in the last five years.[4]

The potential for growth for the Indian FinTech over the next two decades is quite robust, given that less than 50% of the nation’s population has access to digital payments, and the number of people with access to credit is a measly 10%.[5]

BFSI- An Employment Generator Par Excellence

The BFSI sector provides employment to 6.1 million professionals, of which banking provides jobs to 2.4 million workers, NBCF to 2.2 million, insurance half a million, and other financial services 1 millon workers. [6]Going forward, one can expect the Indian BFSI sector to continue to do extremely well in terms of providing employment to the young. It is expected that it will provide employment to some 250,000 people by 2030, with most of the hiring happening in Tier II and Tier III cities. Much of the employment will be generated by wealth and insurance businesses who are looking to hire financial planners, digital underwriters, investment advisors, and claim automation professionals.[7]

Conclusion

The Indian BFSI sector is the sector to watch out for in terms of it sheer potential for growth and ability to generate employment. Driven by widespread digital adoption, a stupendous growth in financial inclusivity, the growth of diverse business and employment opportunities, as well as the fact that the Indian economy is on the ascendant, the Indian BFSI is in a fortuitous and happy space that is likely to remain that way in the foreseeable future.

[1] https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/indias-bfsi-sector-grows-over-50-times-in-two-decades-share-of-banks-reduced-due-to-nbfcs-report-11745462233150.html

[2] https://www.ey.com/en_in/insights/india-at-100/how-india-can-fill-the-credit-gap-to-fuel-economic-growth

[3] https://www.mckinsey.com/in/our-insights/steering-indian-insurance-from-growth-to-value-in-the-upcoming-techade

[4] https://www.pwc.in/assets/pdfs/investing-in-indias-fintech-disruption.pdf

[5] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/sme-sector/fintech-revolution-2-0-is-expected-to-unfold-in-india-in-the-next-10-years-mobikwiks-upasana-taku/articleshow/120891118.cms?from=mdr

[6] https://www.praxisga.com/insights/education-and-employability/unlocking-growth-skilling-opportunities-in-india-s-bfsi-sector

[7] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/banking/finance/banking/bfsi-sector-to-add-2-5-lakh-jobs-by-2030-hiring-shifts-to-tier-ii-iii-cities-report/articleshow/123426130.cms?from=mdr

Generative AI Moving From LLM to SLM?

 

Photo by Google DeepMind: https://www.pexels.com/photo/an-artist-s-illustration-of-artificial-intelligence-ai-this-illustration-depicts-language-models-which-generate-text-it-was-created-by-wes-cockx-as-part-of-the-visualising-ai-project-l-18069696/

While LLMs, or large language models, have played a pivotal role in the significant growth witnessed by GenAI, they do come with a number of built-in issues that act as a damper on the universal adoption of the technology. For one, the fact that LLM necessitates the training of models that need to take billions and billions of parameters into account, which is something that requires an enormous amount of investment. This ensures that only the largest technology companies with untold resources can seriously look at adopting this technology. Besides, the sheer consumption of energy to run the servers can prove to be an environmental nightmare.

This is where the move to SLMs or small language models makes eminent sense. As these need to conform to a much smaller number of parameters than in the case of LLMs, they are able to run admirably on devices with lesser processing power, including browsers, edge & IoT devices, and smartphones. What’s more, the quantum of resources needed to be deployed for this is way lower.

SLM technology is more decentralized in that it can be customized to handle precise tasks as well as datasets. This exposure to much more diverse datasets often makes them much more efficient than large language models trained on a limited amount of data. As smaller language models do not have large hardware requirements, these are usually much cheaper to deploy, encouraging more and more organisations and individuals to leverage their power. Another great advantage of using SLMs is the fact that one no longer needs to share one’s sensitive information with external servers, helping you to have enhanced digital security. As you can never really fully comprehend the decision making process with regard to LLMs, there is an ever present trust deficit that does not bode well for the implementation of that model in a manner that aligns with your objectives.

The widespread adoption of SLM that we see on a daily basis includes things like smart mail suggestions, grammar and spelling checks, voice assistants, real time text translations, search engine auto fills, and so on. This is a testament to the increased use of SLMs in preference to the conventional LLMs by more and more businesses and enterprises, especially by those who put a premium on cost, better control over technology, and the security of sensitive information.

 

Summary

Though both LLMs and SLMs have played a critical role in mainstreaming GenAI, the growing popularity of the latter is something that has been quite discernible for some time now. To summarise, SLMs are growing in popularity on account of the fact that LLMs require the deployment of large amounts of resources, which require a substantial investment. Apart from that, SLMs lend themselves to customization more easily, making them a more efficient alternative to LLMs. To top it all, SLMs offer better security. SLMs are increasingly taking over from LLMs across small businesses and enterprises and this trend is here to stay.

 

 

 

 

Using AI for Digital Marketing

 AI is being used for practically every field of human endeavour, and it cannot be that it will not be leveraged for something like digital marketing, which, as it is, depends upon technology to achieve results. A majority of marketing professionals around the globe are quite comfortable using AI tools in their day to day work. The level of adoption may not be uniform, but there is no denying the fact that AI adoption in the field of marketing is growing by the day.

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Not surprisingly, the most pervasive use of AI is in written content in the shape of blogs, social media posts, and emails. It is also used extensively for carrying out market research and automating tasks. Amongst the biggest benefits of using AI for digital marketing is the fact that it can allow one to personalise one’s marketing efforts to speak to one’s prospects’ and customers' specific needs and requirements.  AI applications also help digital marketers with SEO and advertising, and campaign optimisation. It also helps analyse customer-related data obtained from diverse platforms and make accurate demand forecasts.

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  Image generated by Google's Gemini AI

                                  

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AI tools used for Digital Marketing

Most people are aware of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Claude AI; there are a large number of other very useful AI tools that digital marketers can put to good use for a whole range of functions. Let’s get a lowdown on some of them-

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1. Midjourney

Midjourney is a generative AI tool that generates images based on prompts provided in natural language. While its speed and accuracy are quite noteworthy, its ability to allow savvy digital marketers to give full rein to their creative imagination is what is remarkable about this tool.

​2. Drift

Drift is a very useful AI chatbot that helps with lead generation. Besides, it is great for customer interface. Not only does it offer a proactive chat feature, but it also enables lead qualification via conversational AI, besides offering integration with CRMs.

​3. Evolv.ai

Evolv.ai is a handy AI tool that helps businesses provide improved customer experiences in real time with the help of AI and machine learning. It is a knowledge management tool that helps them make sense of AI-generated recommendations by integrating various types of business intelligence.

​4. Mailchimp

Mailchimp is a popular AI-powered email marketing tool. It is very useful as it not only helps one personalise content, but to also helps figure out the best time to send out marketing emails. This is one tool that can help a business increase both the number of new as well as  repeat customers.

​5. Surfer SEO

Surfer SEO is a very useful tool used for on-page optimisation. It is cloud based and can help a business analyse its pages vis-a-vis the currency ranked ones on any of the  search engines. The advent of AI has changed SEO. With Surfer SEO, one can access one workflow to ensure that one’s content is visible across Google, Chat GPT, and the plethora of similar AR platforms.

​6. Tableau

This is a data visualisation and business intelligence tool par excellence that uses AI to help marketers analyse data to obtain cutting edge insights with regard to growing a business or brand. Its ability to leverage data to solve problems is unparalleled, which gives it the ability to transform a business.

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Why use AI in Digital Marketing

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The case for using AI in digital Marketing is very persuasive indeed. For one, it leads to an improvement in overall efficiency for the simple reason that it frees business owners, executives, and marketers from having to perform repetitive tasks and focus on the core ones that help a business grow in an optimal manner.

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AI imparts the ability of making data-driven decisions, allowing businesses to benefit from the most well considered and informed strategies, tactics, and actions.Leveraging AI allows businesses, regardless of size and budget, to compete with the best in business by enabling a level playing field.

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AI helps enhance customer satisfaction by personalising the way that the clients’ requirements are met in a timely manner. This is something that tools like chatbots can help achieve. Apart from speeding up decision making, perhaps the best advantage of using AI in digital marketing is the fact that it helps a business scale up their marketing without having to break the bank on account of a huge marketing budget.

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India-US Relations Beyond Trump's Tariffs

Image courtesy of Google's Gemini AI

While the whole nation seethes with righteous and definitely justified anger at the US President, Donald Trump's bizarre decision to impose an appallingly high 50% tariff on Indian goods imported into America, there is an  urgent need to look at the issue dispassionately and not get weighed down by emotion.

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It is true that the reason for imposing an additional 25% tariff on the importing of cheap Russian oil by India is pure hypocrisy, as both China and Europe individually buy more energy from that country. Besides, the US itself trades with Russia in a not-so-insubstantial manner. To add insult to injury, Trump has also decided to cosy up to the quasi-dictator of Pakistan, Asif Munir. That being stated, the answer to the bullying tactics of the present American administration is not to rush into the arms of revisionist, dictatorial regimes like those of China and Russia. Add to that the fact that China has illegally occupied vast tracts of Indian land and continues to view India as a rival and a threat to its rise, we have every reason to tread carefully.

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This is the same China that fully supported our belligerent Western neighbour, Pakistan, during Operation Sindoor. Russia is in no position to be a strategic asset for India, given that it is in the doghouse owing to its ill-advised Ukraine war. What’s worse is that it is beholden to China for its very survival. Besides, it has only caused trouble for India on account of its habit of invading nations here and there. Its entry into Afghanistan in the 1980s saw the rise of Islamist terrorism in India’s neighbourhood, and its invasion of Ukraine has thrown a spanner in budding Indo-US relations.

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The Indian-US strategic relationship was carefully crafted over the last two decades and makes as much sense today as it did six months ago. That a mercurial US president, who has troubled relations with all of his nation’s allies and close friends, is giving India a lot of grief is undisputed, but that is something that the whole world is contending with. We have to remember that Trump is not America, and his handpicked team of lackeys who go along with his every mad whim and fancy.

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There is the bureaucracy of that nation who haven’t changed its worldview just because an irrational and seemingly semi-literate demagogue is in charge for a few years. Nor have the right-thinking politicians on both sides of the aisle, and even former members of Trump’s first cabinet. Everyone is waiting to weather the Trumpian storm, and so should India. At the same time, India is doing the right thing by continuing to exercise its long-cherished strategic autonomy by seeking to expand trade relations with China and Russia, apart from similarly engaging with the affluent European Bloc of nations and the United Kingdom.

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India, being the largest nation in the world in terms of population, has a tremendous advantage in that it has such a large market, which can not only help it grow economically even in the event of a fall in its export earnings, but it can also use that as leverage in conducting its global affairs. Not allowing free rein to the Americans in the Indian markets, in fact, lies at the heart of the current American decision to punish India with tariffs.

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For all the current problems we are having with the Americans, there is much that binds the two former British colonies. The Americans supported India during its freedom struggle and provided it with much-needed food aid in the 1960s. Martin Luther King based his civil rights movement on Gandhi’s principles of non-violence.

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It also helped us against the Chinese in 1962, and there have always been warm people to people contacts between the peoples of the  two countries. The English language and their status as the world’s most consequential democracies bond India and America in ways that are not possible with totalitarian states like Russia and China. The best and brightest Indian students have gone on to complete their higher studies in the most prestigious American colleges and found astounding success in America across myriad fields. Indian doctors, engineers, managers, CEOs, and IT professionals rule the roost in the United States of America.

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The two countries bond culturally as well, with the American way of life slowly permeating across India’s cities as towns, as evidenced by the very large number of Mc Donalds, Burger KIngs, Pizza Huts, and other American style  fast food chains present everywhere. People drink Coca-Cola and  use American social media platforms in practically every part of India and draw their cultural cues from the West, and hardly from Russia and China. India, on its part, exercises its cultural influence on America through yoga and spirituality. This is not a relationship that is driven by the politicians, but the peoples of the two countries. We need to remember that when we react to the actions of the men of straw who call themselves leaders of America.

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While protecting India’s interests by not succumbing to their rank bullying tactics, it is important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. We should, in fact, look at the present impasse with regard to Indo-US relations as an opportunity to try and strengthen our domestic industries and seek out diverse export markets. At the same time, we should not shy away from the important economic reforms needed domestically and unshackle our private sector to grow boldly and ambitiously. We would also see if we can reduce the tariff we charge on our imports to encourage countries across the world to trade with us. That will also incentivise our local industries to become more efficient and give customers better value for money.

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There is much that is being said about the 21st century being an Asian one, and that is not something lost on the Americans who would want to hold on to their position as the numero uno nation of the world for as long as possible. India is well positioned to continue being somebody that the US will benefit from engaging closely with. The Americans will come around. They have to if they have any sense. In the meantime, India should play its cards just right.