Arnold Kling: “Humans’ superpower is the ability to learn, both individually and collectively…No other species is able to create, transmit, and accumulate knowledge as much as humans do. Joseph Henrich, Kevin Laland, and other anthropologists argue persuasively that this is what makes us qualitatively different from other animals… On the economy as a learning system, I now boil that down to experimentation, evaluation, and evolution. That is, a society must run a lot of experiments—think of start-up businesses or new initiatives from incumbent firms. Those experiments must be evaluated—most new business initiatives do not work. Finally, evolution has to take place—obsolete enterprises and unsuccessful new initiatives must be shut down.”
FT: “Dall-E, Stable Diffusion and Midjourney have made what might have taken an extremely skilled illustrator or animator a week to do into something any of us can commission in a few moments. There is no doubt those jobs are at terminal risk. Architects are already using AI to handle mundane tasks from distributing parking spaces and bathrooms to arranging blocks on an urban plan.”
Business Standard: “Third-party cookies help in delivering targeted advertisements to users. A first-party cookie remains on the websites users visited. Companies use third-party cookies to send targeted ads to a user across the internet, whether the user is on their website or any other. Phasing out third-party cookies is not new: Smaller browsers such as Safari and Firefox did it a few years ago. It is significant now, as Chrome commands 60 per cent of the browser market globally. In India, it has 90 per cent of the market. Why the shift? The reason is user privacy as mandated by the Competition and Markets Authority in the United Kingdom. The phaseout’s impact on digital marketing will be unparalleled, according to industry players. Advertisers may experience changes in the effectiveness of targeted advertising campaigns. The precision of targeting may weaken, impacting the return on investment (RoI) for advertising spend. Removing third-party cookies is likely to impact the digital advertising landscape, including changes in CPMs (cost per mille or cost per thousand impressions).”
Mint: “Is there a service sector that can replicate the success of India’s IT sector but needs lower labour skills, has higher labour intensity and also forges worthy backward and forward linkages? There may be one that has remained neglected for a long time, except in a handful of Indian states: the tourism sector. India currently accounts for only just over 1% of global tourism. India’s rank on the Global Travel and Tourism Development Index in 2021 was 54th. Developing the tourism sector would need streamlining visas and entry requirements, improving transport infrastructure to enhance in-land connectivity, developing and maintaining high-quality accommodation facilities as well as efficient healthcare and safety services, boosting the food processing sector, and integrating sustainable practices, among other developments.”
Indian Express: “With nearly 1.5 million aspirants vying for roughly 1,000 seats, it’s helpful to realise that the Indian civil services examination process is a rejection process – and not a selection process. This reality doesn’t always align with popular culture’s heroic narratives of valour, discipline, persistence, and hard work. The success stories, as also depicted in 12th Fail, are mere bright spots in an otherwise blank canvas. Society must communicate and acknowledge this real picture. Failure to do so and acknowledge the reality has instilled a mindset with several problematic traits.”
