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AI and "I"

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It is believed that AI will eliminate millions of jobs in the coming decades.  Most of these jobs are likely to be information or desk jobs.  These are the ones that got created in the past couple of hundred years.  Before we continue, let us look at some of the theories of longevity of professions: As per Nassim Taleb defined Lindy Effect, for non-perishable things (ideas, technologies, professions), future life expectancy is proportional to current age. For example, if a practice has survived for 1,000 years, you should expect it to survive another 1,000 years. If it’s only been around for 70 years, its expected remaining lifespan is about 70 years.  AI will drastically reduce the remaining lifespan of many jobs.  Again as per Taleb, technology doesn't usually eliminate a human function; instead, it strips away the fragile, artificial parts of a job and forces the role back to its most ancient, Lindy core.  So, in many desk or information based roles, the...
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Connected World, Universal Values and the Hatred for Local

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A person wondered why there is so much hatred against Brahmins.  But the hatred is not just against Brahmins; sometimes it is against Hindus as a whole.  The mutual hatred between Muslims and the Western world is beyond the scope of this article.   Brahmins in particular and Hindus in general do not exhibit so much hatred against any other groups but are still hated if we look at social media posts.  Indian cinema has been portraying Brahmins as the bad guys - not the typical strong man villain, but the cunning one.   For a few centuries earlier, it was the Jews.  During that period, in popular western literature Jews were the cunning villains.  We may get the reason for that if we understand the motive of universalizing religions.  I see this as an influence of so-called universal religions like Christianity and the effect of a connected world where written communication became prominent.  Universalizing ideologies rely on standard...
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Is our pursuit of knowledge Dharmic?

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 A few days ago, I began watching a Tamil movie - கெணத்தை காணோம் -  'The Well is missing' - The title is based on a popular comedy sequence.  The movie is about a parched village, its people, an accidental discovery of a dinosaur fossil and its consequences.  It has rustic village humor and portrays people as they are - lazy, some of them cunning, indifferent bureaucracy and brutal police.  In the past 5-7 years, Tamil movies are marked by sob stories of common man being wronged by the "system".  There has been consistent propaganda against the state (that is Bharat as a nation), its system and governments.  This movie comes close. The hero, a sculptor and the disinterested priest in the local temple offers his land to dig a well for the villagers' benefit.  While digging, the villagers find fossils of a dinosaur.  The government departments get alerted. An ambitious and cunning researcher and her (archaeology) department are shown as the vil...
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துரந்தர் - நிறைவை நோக்கி...

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விமலாதித்த மாமல்லன் 'எழுத்துக்கலை' என்ற புத்தகத்தில், கதை சொல்பவர்களின் அசிரத்தையை சுட்டிக்காட்ட எஸ்ராவின் ஒரு கதையை உதாரணமாகக் காட்டுகிறார். அதில் எஸ்ரா ஆவடி, தரமணி, நுங்கம்பாக்கம் என்று குழப்பி இருப்பார்.  ஒரு கதையில் நிகழ்வுகளில் மேலதிக விவரங்களைத் தருவது, வாசகர்களை கதையில் ஈடுபடுத்தும். அந்த விவரங்கள் சரியாக இருக்க வேண்டும்.  மேம்போக்கான அல்லத தவறான விவரங்கள், படிப்பவர்களின் அனுபவத்தை பாதிக்கும்.   தாளித்துக் கொட்டுவது சுவை சேர்க்கும் என்பதற்காக, பாயசத்திற்கு கடுகு தாளித்துக் கொட்டுவதற்கு ஒப்பானது.  எழுதுபவர் எந்த அனுபவத்தை வாசகர்களுக்குத் தர விரும்புகிறாரோ, தவறான தகவல்களால், அந்த அனுபவம் சிதைகிறது.    விவரப்பிழைகள் இலக்கியத்திற்கு மட்டுமல்ல, சினிமாவுக்கும் பொருத்தும்.  சினிமாவை ரசிக்க, காட்சிப்படுத்திக் கொள்ளும் கற்பனை திறன் குறைவாக இருந்தாலும், விவரப் பிழைகள், தீவிர சினிமா ரசிகனுக்கு எரிச்சல் ஊட்டுபவை. தமிழ் சினிமா உட்பட, இந்திய சினிமா, கதை நடக்கும் இடத்தைப் பெரிதாக எடுத்துக் கொள்வதில்லை.  ஒரு கதை சென்னையில் நடக்கிறது என்றால், சென்ட்ரல்...
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Reporting a Cyber Crime - We have a long way to go for citizen's services

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My wife was cheated by an online merchant.  She was made to transfer money to a fraud account.  By the time she realized that she was getting cheated, she had already transferred about Rs 12,000.  Once she realized, we decided to file a Cyber Crime complaint. To check the process, she spoke to a friend who was in the Police department.  He directed her to go to a specific office in the city and file a complaint.  Once the complaint is recorded and validated, she can approach the bank to further actions (we didn't know what the further action was).   Since it was already late in the evening, we decided to first file the online complaint.  The next day an officer from the Cyber Crime department (that the friend referred to) contacted my wife and asked her to visit the office.  Her identity and the fraudulent transactions were verified.  She was given an acknowledgement of the complaint. She approached the bank with this complaint.  In...
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The Brahminical Patriarch

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This morning a lady introduced me to her mother-in-law who must be 90 or even older.  The old lady was graceful and wasn't clouded by the memory corruption that comes with ageing.  She connected the references to my grandfather and asked if I was his grandson.  She probably knew my parents and more popular uncles and aunts, but she chose my grandfather as a person of reference.  My grandfather was that patriarch, morally strong, balanced and a role-model.  I was lucky to have seen such a patriarch in our family.  He wasn't much of a Brahmin in the orthodox sense, but had to take the profession of a medical doctor.  He sure was a patriarch we all are proud of, but not a villain in the millennial sense.  He wouldn't care if he were to be called a villain - he was beyond such silly labels.  We will look into the roles and responsibilities of such a patriarch with my grandfather as an example. I guess my grandfather inherited the role.  His ...
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Creator Syndrome

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Another day, another issue.  Be it a house or an organization or a structure, maintaining and keeping it in good condition is a challenge.  Not many are cut out for that.  In fact, our sense of accomplishment and satisfaction is more when things are created, not when a smooth operation over a long period is ensured.  I see this all around. A builder takes great pride in the projects he completed.  Does anyone talk about what it takes to maintain it?  The organization that is supposed to maintain it solves problems day in and day out - from people issues, repairs, productivity and what not.  These problems are on top of it's basic responsibilities like cleanliness, security, safety etc. We boast of big temples our ancestors have built.  Small new temples are created all over the country; what happens to the big ones that cry for maintenance and patronage?   This is not about just physical structures.  Developers like to showcase thei...
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