Will Claude AI Unseat ChatGPT?

Photo by Tara Winstead: https://www.pexels.com/photo/robot-pointing-on-a-wall-8386440/

 Claude AI is touted as a viable alternative to ChatGPT that will take the world by storm. It is a creation of the startup Anthropic AI founded by former Open AI members. Viewed as an ethical tool on account of its conforming to a constitutional AI document that has prescribed principles like freedom, privacy and opposition to inhumane treatment, it promises to be extremely safe and therefore reliable. [1]

Claude boasts an online version available at Claude.ai. It is also available as an iOS app as well as developer API. Apart from a free version, Anthropic lets you access it at $20 per person (Pro) as an individual subscriber. There is another price point of $30 per person (Team) comprising of a group of at least 5 subscribers. [2]

Cluade AI has a friendly and pleasant interface and is great fun to tinker around with. It helps you with a variety of tasks including analysis, writing, coding, math or any kind of creative project you might require help with. At first glance, it doesn’t seem to be too different from ChatGPT and Google Gemini in the way that it fields questions.

How is it Different?

As mentioned earlier in the article, Claude AI is built on the premise of minimizing risk emanating from the use of AI and augmenting model safety. Using the principles of “constitutional AI”, Anthropic seeks to align Claude AI’s action with human values. What sets it apart is that it doesn’t retrain its model as a default action every time a user interacts with LLM.  That is something that would appeal very much to businesses that use it for carrying out work related tasks. Claude is also apparently more reticent in its responses to queries almost to a fault, often not answering the most of innocuous of queries, reinforcing its safety focused approach.[3]

Then there is the fact that unlike ChatGPT, Claude possesses the ability to read, understand and summarize uploaded files. Besides it can manage 195000 words against a mere 4000 words (in context) by ChatGPT. The greater ability to apply context is quite significant- being able to tell the difference between a minister who is a priest and somebody who holds a position in government is an example of this. The fact that it provides information up to August 2023 makes it more contemporary. [4]

Will Claude unseat Chat GPT?

It is too early to say, but people have very good things to say about Claude already. Quite a few of them find it faster than ChatGPT when it comes to everything from generating ideas and helping one write better. It also doubles up as a mean editor and its copywriting abilities are not to be scoffed at. Of course, it summarizes beautifully as well. [5]

Claude AI is here to stay and you will be hearing a lot about it in the time ahead. Watch the space!

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[1] https://www.pluralsight.com/resources/blog/data/what-is-claude-ai

[2] https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/feature/Claude-AI-vs-ChatGPT-How-do-they-compare

[3] https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/feature/Claude-AI-vs-ChatGPT-How-do-they-compare

[4] https://www.zdnet.com/article/4-things-claude-ai-can-do-that-chatgpt-cant/

[5] https://indiaai.gov.in/article/can-claude-2-really-dethrone-chatgpt

The future of the influencer industry

 

Someone presciently said or did not say way back in the 1960s that in the future everyone will be world-famous for fifteen minutes. It is also said-be careful what you wish for, it may come true. Here we are at the end of the first quarter of the 21^st century when everyone and their uncle is an influencer or wants to be. In fact, you can't seem to get rid of them as they have a nasty habit of popping out of nowhere like pesky flies.

Complain all you want, but the influencer economy is a roaring success being worth $250 billion and slated to almost double to $480 billion in 2027.[1] India mirrors this global growth trajectory with the 2024 projection for the nation’s influencer marketing economy being Rs 2344 crores (USD 280 million), which is expected to hit Rs.3375 crores (USD 405 million) by 2026.[2]

Now, if that isn’t a sunrise industry, then what is?

Genesis of Influencer Marketing

 

Influencers have existed since the days of the Romans with people making decisions on the basis of what someone they looked up to recommended to them. If a king or a religious leader who held sway over vast numbers of people ordained that certain rules be followed, these were followed, often upon the pain of death.  The modern era saw the growth of the advertising industry that cleverly proclaimed the desirability of certain products and services, often by getting famous people to endorse them. Fascist and dictatorial leaders like the ones in Nazi Germany went several steps further with the use of clever propaganda that sought to make outright lies appear as the gospel truth.

The democracies of the world had the PR industry, as well as lobbyists who helped shape perceptions about products, brands, government policy or whatever they set their minds on. Often, famous figures like actors, sports people and entertainers would be roped in to use their influence over the masses to help plug a brand, product or agenda.

The arrival of the internet upended everything.

The genesis of modern internet-driven influencer marketing lay in bloggers posting their content online and interacting with people who sent them messages in response to what they had written. This resulted in the creation of online communities on whom they exercised influence. This phenomenon was truly unique in that these bloggers with their bands of trusted followers were the regular kind of people who lived down your street, yet began to attract brand sponsorships in their field of excellence, which was the preserve of film stars, sportsmen and the like in the past.  A travel luggage maker would approach an intrepid travel blogger with a loyal fan following to plug their products than say a Hugh Grant. So successful were these blogs that many of these began to rival the readerships boated by mainline traditional media. The success of the Huffington Post is a good example of this.

The advent and rise of myriad social media channels with their ability to facilitate real-time interactive engagement made influencers all the more impactful in their outreach. Though traditional celebrities like sports people, TV and movie stars and pop stars were the first ones to popularize social media by amassing millions of followers, the regular people were quick to catch on and began to grow huge audiences by sharing very engaging content that resonated deeply with people across niches.

They emerged as authority figures in their respective fields of specialization making them very attractive to businesses who saw a synergy between the influencers' content and their product and service offerings. Anybody can be an influencer marketer and attract brand endorsement if they can effectively serve up social proof about how good a particular product or service is. Someone who runs a successful YouTube trekking channel for instance would likely be approached by brands making outdoor camping equipment, or trekking shoes.

Is there an influencer marketing overload?

Is there such a thing as influencer marketing overload, already? There is some evidence there is with so many people becoming a little wary of popular social media platforms on account of privacy concerns, unbridled misinformation, unhealthy impact on people's mental health and their sheer omnipresence. Many marketers are actually questioning the efficacy of influencer marketing given that most of their traffic seems to be coming from search engines.

In a fast-spinning digital universe with dwindling attention spans and content overload whatever good that an influencer causes to a brand or product is likely to be very short-lived indeed. How useful influencer marketing is for a brand's long-term growth is something a marketer will have to consider before taking a call on whether to persist with it or revert to classical advertising and PR to achieve real brand growth. Also, greater regulatory control of influencer ads is making brands avoid influencer endorsement out of an abundance of caution.

The path ahead for influencer marketing

 

While influencer marketing is growing at a healthy clip in India with the industry expected to hit about Rs. 34 billion by 2026, there is likely to be more emphasis on offering remuneration based on performance in terms of precise outcomes in the shape of clicks, conversions and actual sales conversions. This is going to be truer of the hordes of mini influencers who have proliferated in the influencer marketing space. That being stated influencer marketing is still a sunrise industry in the country what with 75% of brands likely to consider it as part of their marketing strategy and 47% of brands favouring micro and nano influencers to propel their influencer campaigns on account of low cost per reach.[3]

Conclusion

Though influencer marketers are coming under increasing scrutiny on account of how much bang they provide for a buck, we are not likely to see the last of them- at least for the foreseeable future. Till then steel yourselves to receive wisdom from an assortment of self-important gentlemen and ladies about the desirability of using brands ranging from flip flops to umbrellas and holiday excursions to herbal cosmetic products that promise the sun and the moon.

 

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[1] https://digiday.com/marketing/in-a-booming-influencer-economy-creators-seek-standardization-for-payment-terms/

[2] https://www.ey.com/en_in/news/2024/04/indias-influencer-marketing-industry-estimated-to-reach-inr-3375-crore-by-2026-ey-collective-artists-networks-big-bang-social-report

[3] https://www.ey.com/en_in/news/2024/04/indias-influencer-marketing-industry-estimated-to-reach-inr-3375-crore-by-2026-ey-collective-artists-networks-big-bang-social-report

Do Businesses Really Have to Invest in Generative AI?

 We have been told for a couple of years that Generative AI is the best thing to have happened to the world of business in a very long time. It is supposed to revolutionize everything from the development of all new R&D models and enhancing productivity to better customer experiences and the creation of whole new business models.

According to premier management consultancy company BCG, as many as 85% of business leaders plan to increase their company’s spending in AI and GenAI by a whopping 85% in 2024. Besides, 54% of them think that AI will deliver cost savings in the current year on account of productivity gains across operations, customer service, and IT.[1]

Is GenAI Really All That It is Touted to Be?

There are recent reports that suggest that way more may have been invested in GenAI for the kind of benefits that it currently provides to a business.

In particular, a Goldman Sachs report alludes to an interview with Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor at MIT in which he expresses his reservation about AI having any major impact on the economy and has in fact forecasted that it will impact not even 5% of all tasks over the next decade.

As a matter of fact, he believes that AI will increase US productivity by a mere 0.5% and a GDP growth of a pedestrian 0.9% over the next 10 years.[2] So much for all the billions going into just GenAI over the last two years!

On the other hand, the PwC 2024 AI Jobs Barometer report will have us believe that financial services, IT, and professional services sectors boasting relatively higher AI exposure have witnessed 6 times faster productivity growth than those with low exposure to AI.[3] But one can, all the same, detect an element of disenchantment with the technology in terms of its ability to deliver and provide real practical value.

There is a feeling of belied potential in the sense that GenAI hasn’t really reached a stage of development where it can be used in an optimal fashion. There is a lot of hype and speculation surrounding bold new announcements every few months, which does not seem to lead to much in terms of achievement and accomplishment.

With time, as expectations become more realistic with regard to what can possibly be delivered, there may be a resurgence of interest yet again, but tempered with realism.

The Way Ahead

As AI scales and grows in volume, one will notice that there will be an increasing focus on factors like regulating and governing technology, ownership, safety, and risk. There need to be efforts made by organizations who adopt and promote GenAI to reach out to their employees who fear it’s coming. It is important that businesses don’t attempt to better their prospects, by damaging those of their workers.

The companies that are the leaders in GenAI adoption are doing that by involving their employees in deciding how their work and roles should be reshaped.

GenAI is too good a technology to not be taken seriously, but it cannot be adopted in a massive way without making it prove itself. The process of maturation of the technology is a work in progress and it would be an interesting space to watch. The coming years will show us if it will really take over the world or just be a flash in the pan, albeit a brilliant one.

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[1] https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/from-potential-to-profit-with-genai

[2] https://www.ibm.com/blog/gen-ai-live-up-to-hype/

[3] https://www.forbes.com/sites/hamiltonmann/2024/05/22/dont-get-caught-up-in-the-genai-hype/

Is the Honeymoon With Generative AI Over or Just Beginning?

 The advent of Generative AI was presumably the most paradigm-redefining event for not just the technology industry but humanity itself. From industries across the board to governments seeking to leverage its abilities, Generative AI promised to make unheard-of productivity and efficiency levels possible.

The fact that it was able to analyze humongous quantities of data in real-time and ferret out actionable insights, made it the go-to technology for everyone ranging from healthcare, marketing and retail to education, finance, and transportation as well as everything else, besides.

This was amply demonstrated in the humongous amount of investment racked up by it in the recent past. Last year saw the technology supported by a whopping $21.3 billion of which Open AI got the lion's share of $10 billion. The first quarter of 2024 saw an investment of US 3 billion, which may reach 12 billion by the end of the year.[1]

Waning Interest?

The fact that there is considerably less investment in 2024 in Generative AI than in 2023 could point to a waning interest in Generative AI or be a breather for the already substantial investment to bear fruit, before resuming in a giddy rush of exuberance that characterized the initial phase. The thing to understand about Generative AI is the fact that it seems to be focused on prompting efficiency and productivity, apart from reducing costs, and it does not really seem to have a clear trajectory with regard to innovation and growth.

Not much seems to have been accomplished by way of zeroing in on those who would help take Generative AI to the next level, or on how it will be governed and the risks that it may pose.[2]

The biggest drawback of Generative AI is the fact that it’s outpouring of content that has driven out genuine high-quality human-driven content may lead to a scenario in which all future AI models may only have its self-generated content to help model their output. What's the point of it all, if all that Generative AI does is make a fool of you with perennially regurgitated nonsense?[3]

All the hoopla around Generative AI is premised on the assumption that its growth is inexorable, exponential, and inevitable. There isn't much sane deliberation around the fact if it is actually the case or like other technologies before it, it has a high point, a plateauing moment, and then a downslide. Leaders in positions of authority need to make considered decisions about the adoption of Generative AI and adopt it only if it promises to bring some value to their businesses.

Conclusion

The sheen seems to be wearing off Generative AI what with governments seeking to regulate the technology, creators bringing about lawsuits for infringement of copyrights, and everybody expressing concerns about privacy.[4]

There are, however, those who believe that it will see massive adoption in the years ahead with Gartner estimating that 75% of businesses will deploy Generative AI to create synthetic customer data, something that a mere 5% of them do so at present. This is something that allows businesses to simulate environments that help them zero in on new product development opportunities.[5]

So, the jury is out on Generative AI. Let's see where the billions invested in it take it.

[1] https://www.ey.com/en_ie/news/2024/05/generative-ai-venture-capital-investment-globally-on-track-to-reach-12-billion-dollar-in-2024-following-breakout-year-in-2023#:~:text=2024%20Dublin%2C%20IE-,Generative%20AI%20Venture%20Capital%20Investment%20Globally%20On%20Track%20To%20Reach,following%20breakout%20year%20in%202023

[2] https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/consulting/us-state-of-gen-ai-report.pdf

[3] https://hbr.org/2023/11/has-generative-ai-peaked

[4] https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/8/19/23837705/openai-chatgpt-microsoft-bing-google-generating-less-interest

[5] https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/3-bold-and-actionable-predictions-for-the-future-of-genai#:~:text=Generative%20AI%20technologies%20will%20greatly,technology%20companies%20and%20research%20labs.

Spiritual underpinnings of an Indian

Photo by Vipin Labroo

That India is the land of spirituality is an age-old and well-worn cliche. There is a global multi-billion dollar industry that sells our country as the land of millions of gods, myriad festivals, yoga, Nirvana and all that.

But what are the real spiritual underpinnings of the average Indian? What is his worldview and his view of his place in it? Is he or she really the deeply spiritually inclined person who is oblivious to the trappings of the material world or are they totally enamoured of the pleasures of the world as demonstrated by our recent exuberant celebration of India overtaking Britain to become the fifth largest economy in the world.

Perhaps, there is a bit of both- a deep reverence for all manner of life on Earth and indeed nature itself in all its glorious manifestations as well an unabashed appreciation and celebration of everything material. The former is evident from the kindness shown to animals across the land by ordinary people leaving food and water for stray animals, and the fact that millions upon millions of Indians are vegetarian simply because of their belief in the sanctity of life- which is not visible in any other part of the world.

On the other hand, the avarice and hankering after the good life are evident in the manner people put their own good above that of society, as evidenced by the rampant corruption, almost non-existent social decorum and civic sense in so many and the senselessly grandiose weddings that sometimes even bankrupt families.

So, who are we as a people? From the earliest times, our country has been a land of striking contrasts- enormous wealth and privilege enjoyed by a few alongside an austere life for the many. Even in the much-heralded pre-colonial era, when India's economy was the largest in the world, it was the kings, maharajas and merchants who were wealthy, while most people lived a frugal life. That is exactly how it is today, with a few wealthy individuals cornering a major portion of the nation's wealth leaving the rest of us to somehow get by in life. No doubt we have a growing middle class, some of whom have decent purchasing power, but no one can claim that there is an equitable distribution of wealth

Doesn't the fact that India has existed without major upheavals (like the frequent seismic revolutions in the Western world) for millennia say something about our worldview? We let things happen because they will and wait for the inevitable turning of the wheel. Gandhi knew this about us and, therefore, chose non-violence and passive resistance as the way to show the British that the wheel had turned and their time in India was up.

Gandhi knew the pulse and heartbeat of India like no one else. He felt that India's strength was its simplicity and the simple way of life. It gave the ordinary Indian a hard, but still content life, which was all that ultimately mattered according to Gandhi.

He didn't want the Industrial Revolution with all its so-called ideas of progress to contaminate the Indian way of life. He would have been likely horrified by the technology revolution that has so impacted India. He wouldn't have thought much of all the highways being constructed to the holiest religious shrines in ecologically sensitive zones, high in the Himalayas. The man who went on the celebrated Dandi march to protest the levying of a tax on the making of salt would much rather have people walk to pilgrimage centres than drive on all-weather roads in an SUV.

Our spiritual moorings are driven by a belief in karma, or rather the dispassionate performing of it, without being unduly perturbed by the consequences or lack of them. Life is an ever-turning cycle of good and bad resulting from how we conduct our lives. This helps us weather crisis after crisis with relative equanimity, keeping us sane and safe while the world around us goes mad.

The world today is rife with war, pandemics and economic and demographic slowdowns that could lead to even the demise of nations. Above all, there are all the indications of a collapsing world order leading to a long era of chaos and destabilisation. The world may fear its coming, but we in India know that it is a mere turn of the wheel.

 

Why brands and businesses are better served by human-written content than AI-generated content

 

The advent of Generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini has seen brands and businesses worldwide turn to AI to create content.  The move seems logical as these seem to be able to create what appears to be extremely well-written content in moments, freeing marketing managers and business owners with the necessity of giving extensive briefs to their content writers, only to have them turn out content that often needs many iterations to finally reach a stage where it is ready for dissemination.

But are things really all that wonderful with using Generative AI to create content for businesses, or is this the entirely wrong way for a business to go about its business of creating content? According to Neil Patel, one of the foremost authorities on digital marketing in the world, human content performs better than AI content.[1] According to a study conducted by his team, human-generated content fared 5.44 times better in generating traffic than AI-generated content. It also found that every minute spent writing by humans received 4.10 visitors to 3.25 in the case of AI-generated content.  Patel attributed the superior performance of human-generated content on account of it being better with regard to emotion and context.

What is important to understand about writing great content is the fact that while Generative AI's ability to put across complex information in an easy-to-comprehend manner might be extraordinarily good, it is also important that it be done in the kind of language that resonates with the target audience in question. It is humans who are better at doing so, as unlike AI, they can truly know where their audience is coming from and contextualize the content for them. This is something that Generative AI struggles with as it is not adept at asking the right questions as it has lived experience and is totally bereft of emotional intelligence.

AI writing might be smart and efficient, but it lacks personality. It is more like the Nazi army’s blitzkrieg across Europe in the Second World War. Human writing on the other hand can be likened to Churchill’s, “We shall fight from the beaches--- speech.” We all know who finally won that epic war.

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[1] https://neilpatel.com/blog/ai-vs-human-content/

Landlocked India catching up with peninsular India?

 

Ever since colonial times, peninsular India has led the nation in terms of economic, social and human development indicators. The British and other colonial powers entered India by the sea route and their new-fangled European ideas shaped by the Industrial Revolution first struck root in the peninsular part of the country from where they worked their way up till they established their capital in Delhi, the seat of power for many northern empires since at least the medieval times.

Both the Northern and Southern (corresponding with peninsular India) parts of India had their fair share of empires and kingdoms down the ages, each of them contributing in their unique ways to the social, political and cultural landscapes of the vast Indian sub-continent. The coming of the Europeans upended centuries and even millennia-old ways of living that had developed and evolved locally in all parts of the country. The various regions of India interacted with and were influenced by one another and there was a lot of travel, trade and cultural exchange on the subcontinent that led to its forging a unique identity that nations and peoples around the world recognized as the Indian nation with its many Indian people.

The East India Company first marked their presence in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta, cities that they founded where they set up factories and trading posts that let them export cotton textiles from India to a ravenous West which had an insatiable demand for these products. It is no coincidence that these three cities continue to be amongst the largest metropolises of the nation with only their names having been Indianised as a nod to a pre-colonial past and heritage. From their bases in peninsular India, the British took it upon themselves to conquer the rest of India which was marginally helmed by a very decrepit and weakened Mughal empire constantly being challenged by emerging Maratha power and hundreds of kingdoms of myriad sizes spread across large parts of the country.

As a consequence of the rapacious and grossly exploitative policies of the British, first under the East India Company and later under the British Crown, the people of India saw not only their land turn from the richest nation in the world to among the poorest, but also their culture, language and way of life being undermined, leading them to fight for their freedom from the colonialists.

In the era leading up to independence, European merchants and traders found the peninsular region to be more attractive than the northern land-locked parts of India, on account of its accessibility and richness of resources. It was also politically more amenable to engage with overseas powers and entities due to its maritime tradition. That being the case, the northern parts of the country too were centres of considerable economic and trade activity, given that the declining Mughal and other North Indian kingdoms still had a legacy of economic activity that went back centuries.

Since independence, peninsular India has consolidated its natural advantages to become the engine of the nation’s economic growth. It boasts higher levels of education and income than the north of the country. A burgeoning middle class endow it with the right kind of human resources that make the region globally competitive.

The northern part of the country on the other hand has fared relatively poorly, as evidenced by the fact that it has some of the largest concentrations of mass poverty anywhere, often compared to sub-Saharan Africa. Though there are regional disparities in other nations of the world, the divide in India in terms of lop-sided economic development is quite stark.

Things, however, look to be changing with North India finally shaking off its languor and putting its foot on the gas pedal. According to Financial Times columnist, author and investor, Ruchir Sharma the average economic growth rate of southern Indian states in the 2007 to 2010 period went down from 7% to 6.5%, even while that of the northern parts went up substantially from 4.5 to 6%.[1] Further evidence of land-locked India's improving economic performance is found in the national state-wise per capita income figures which show Delhi at the number one spot, Chandigarh at number three, Haryana at number six and Uttarakhand at number eight. This compares quite favourably with the figures notched up by peninsular states with Kerala at number seven, Maharashtra at number nine, Karnataka at number ten, Tamil Nadu at number eleven, Telangana at number 12 and Andhra Pradesh at number eighteen.[2]

In terms of the Net Domestic Product of Indian states, the land-locked regions of the country are represented by UP at number three, and Rajasthan at number seven, while states from peninsular India dominate the rankings with Maharashtra at number one, Tamil Nadu at number two, Karnataka at number four, Gujarat at number five, West Bengal at number six and Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana at eight, nine and ten respectively.[3]

While the land-locked parts of the country have begun to get their act together to enhance their short, medium and long-term economic growth prospects, vis-à-vis their peninsular counterparts, it is obvious that there is still a fair distance to be covered. This is evident from the fact that the worst ten infant mortality rates pertain to land-locked states.[4]

The old clichés of the urbane, wealthy and well-educated southern part of the country versus the poorer, more populous and essentially rural parts of the northern land-locked region may be nothing more than crude generalisations, what with the emergence of technology hubs like Noida, Chandigarh, and Gurgaon in the North, but the fact remains that the latter have their tasks cut out, with regard to growing their regional economies and providing employment to their youth.

The difference in economic growth and development across different regions of the country is the result of a complex set of factors, not the least of which is the colonial legacy left behind by the British.  India was a flourishing economic entity before the colonialists subverted it.  Things, however, seem to have come a full circle with the Indian economy having grown larger than that of its erstwhile colonial masters and inching close towards the third spot. The lop-sided economic growth within the country is something that can be addressed as time goes by and India grows richer and richer.

 

 

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[1] https://www.firstpost.com/business/economy/can-north-india-overtake-arrogant-south-in-growth-292855.html

[2] https://theprint.in/economy/is-south-india-really-richer-than-the-north-three-charts-that-show-the-truth/103253/

[3][3] https://theprint.in/economy/is-south-india-really-richer-than-the-north-three-charts-that-show-the-truth/103253/

[4] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-62951951