9 PM Daily Current Affairs Brief – February 13th, 2023

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GS PAPER - 1

Lithium reserves: Our J&K find could put India on the lithium map

Source: The post is based on the article “Our J&K find could put India on the lithium map” published in the Livemint on 13th February 2023.

Syllabus: GS 1 – Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent).

Relevance: About Lithium reserves.

News: Recently, the Geological Survey of India has for the first time discovered Lithium reserves in the Salal-Haimana area of Reasi District of Jammu & Kashmir(UT).

About the Lithium reserves around the globe

According to the US Geological Survey, the world has 98 million tonnes of Lithium reserves. Of that, half of it is in South America’s ‘lithium triangle’ of Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Apart from that, the US, Australia and China also have some Lithium reserves.

The recent Lithium discovery in Jammu & Kashmir is about 5.9 million tonnes which is about 5.5% of the world’s total Lithium reserves.

What is Lithium?

Read here: Facts about Lithium

What are the applications of Lithium?

Read here: Uses of Lithium
What is the importance of Lithium reserves in India?
Read here: Geological Survey of India Finds Lithium and Gold Deposits

Reduce Chinese dominance: China dominates the lithium supply chain. China has agreements with South American suppliers, and it is refining about two-thirds of the world’s lithium cell assembly.

What is the importance of Lithium reserves?

Reducing global warming: The aim of carbon neutrality has begun to set economic terms amid global trade wars and outright de-globalization.

Ability to pack energy: Lithium’s lightness and ability to pack in energy make it a good pick for vehicles and devices that run on rechargeable batteries since lithium ions can store and release electricity without adding much body weight.

Hence, according to McKinsey report, annual demand for lithium could reach 3-4 million tonnes by 2030 (about five times the usage estimate of 2022).

The discovery of reserves in India relieves us of a key import dependency and helps to electrify Indian traffic faster.

Read More: Lithium Reserves in India: Strategic Significance and Concerns – Explained, pointwise

Gender Budgeting: Status, Benefits and Challenges – Explained, pointwise

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Introduction

The Union Budget 2023-24 has been presented in the Parliament. In 2005, the Government had started releasing a Gender Budget along with the Union budget. Gender Budgeting is a strategy to ensure that promises on gender equality show up in public budget allocations as well. However, achieving gender equality through Gender Budgeting has remained a challenge. The share of Gender Budget (in total Government Budget) has remained low despite growing at an annualized rate 13% since inception. With some reforms in the implementation, the Government can improve the efficacy of Gender Budgeting in terms of outcomes.

What is the meaning of Gender Budgeting (GB)?

Gender Budgeting is the use of fiscal policies and public financial management tools to promote gender equality. It is an exercise that applies a ‘Gendered-lens‘ to the allocation and tracking of public funds. This is done in order to ensure that governments are acutely aware of the impact of their choices on gender outcomes. Gender Budgeting is not limited to funding explicit gender equality initiatives. It also entails analyzing fiscal policies and budgetary decisions to understand their impact on gender equality and using this information to design and implement more effective gender policies. It translates the gender commitments into fiscal commitments.

The ‘Gender Budgeting Handbook, 2015’ released by the Ministry of Women and Child Development notes that Gender Budgeting is a tool for gender mainstreaming. It observes that, “Gender Budgeting is concerned with gender-sensitive formulation of legislation, policies, plans, programmes and schemes; allocation and collection of resources; implementation and execution; monitoring, review, audit and impact assessment of programmes and schemes; and follow-up corrective action to address gender disparities.” It is not only about the Budget and it is not just a one-time activity. It is a continuous process that must be applied to all levels and stages of the policy process.

Evolution of Gender Budgeting: It was first introduced in 1984 in Australia to evaluate the impact of the national budget on women and girls. The approach was adopted by other countries including Canada, South Africa and Philippines etc. In 1995, the United Nation’s Beijing Platform for Action called for integrating a gender perspective into government budget processes.

In 2015, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) called for adequate resources and tools to track budget allocations for gender equality (SDG indicator 5.c.1). The Addis Ababa Action Agenda for Development (2015) recognized the importance of tracking resource allocations for gender equality and strengthening capacity for Gender Budgeting.

In 2020, G20-Women, an official engagement group to the G20, called for greater investment in GB to ensure that fiscal policies advance gender equality in the short and long-term recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is the status of Gender Budgeting in India ?

The Government of India had adopted Gender Budgeting in 2005-06.

In India, Gender Budgeting comprises two parts: (a) Part A reflects Women-Specific Schemes i.e., those which have 100% allocation for women; (b) Part B reflects Pro-Women Schemes i.e., those where at least 30% of the allocation is for women.

The gender budgeting framework has helped the gender-neutral ministries to design new programs for women.

Gender Budgeting Cells (GBC): The Government has mandated the establishment of Gender Budgeting Cells in all Ministries and Departments as an institutional mechanism to implement Gender Budgeting. The GBCs conduct gender-based impact analyses, beneficiary needs assessments, and beneficiary incidence analyses and determine the room for re-prioritizing public expenditures and better implementation.

Role of The Ministry of Women and Child Development in Gender Budgeting: The Ministry has made consistent efforts to support the institutionalization of GB at the State/UT level. The Ministry also provides financial support to Government training institutions for capacity building of Government officials to enhance Gender Budgeting in States/UTs.

Role of States/UTs in Gender Budgeting: In a reply to a question in the Lok Sabha (March 2021), the Government responded that 27 States/UTs have adopted Gender Budgeting and have taken various steps to address gender gaps and advance gender equality. Goa, Haryana, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Telangana, Chandigarh, Ladakh, Puducherry haven’t adopted GB yet.

Adoption of Gender Budgeting by States UPSC

States that have adopted GB UPSC

Source: Mint, Lok Sabha

These steps take by States include identification of a nodal Department for Gender Budgeting, constitution of Gender Budgeting Cells, formulation of State Women/Girls Policy, creation of Gender Data Bank and adding Gender Budget Statement in the State Budget. Additionally, 21 States/UTs have established designated State Nodal Centres for sustained capacity building efforts on GB.

Budgetary Allocations: India’s Gender Budget has allocated INR 2.23 lakh crore in the Union Budget 2023-24. This is ~30% higher than Budgetary allocation in 2022-23 (INR 1.71 lakh crore, Budget estimate) but only ~2% than actual allocation (INR 2.18 lakh crore, Revised Estimate).

Part A of the Gender Budget has allotted over INR 88,000 crore in FY2023-24. It is dominated by the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (both Urban and Rural housing). These two schemes attracted 90% of the total funding for Part A of the Gender Budget. Part B has received INR 1.35 lakh crore. Part B comprise several schemes pertaining to rural development, health, education and women empowerment.

Shares of Major Schemes in Gender Budget

Souce: Mint

Important women-centric schemes include: (a) Safe City Project, an initiative under the Nirbhaya Fund scheme for ensuring safety of women and children; (b) SAMBAL, a sub-scheme comprising of old schemes like One Stop Centre, Women Helpline and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao; (c) SAMARTHYA, includes women empowerment programmes like Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana and Swadhar Greh. SAMBAL and SAMARTHYA are part of the larger umbrella scheme ‘Mission Shakti‘, an integrated women empowerment programme.

What are the benefits of Gender Budgeting?

Understanding Impact of Budget: Gender Budgeting approach leads to better informed policy choices. This approach makes the policy makers more aware of the potential impact of policy decisions on gender.

Better Utilisation of Resources: It can support efforts to not only design, but re-design fiscal policies, adjusting resources to better address persistent gender gaps.

Achievement of Gender Equality Goals: It leads to greater focus on achieving gender equality goals. A focused approach leads to better results. An IMF Working paper on the impact of Gender Budgeting in G20 countries notes that Gender Budgeting leads to more programmes incorporating gender related goals. Every country analysed in the research paper had some positive outcome in terms of gender equality.

Impact of GB on Gender Equality

Source: IMF

Wider Societal Outcomes: There are many other factors that impact the achievement of gender equality, including  societal attitudes and behaviours. Gender Budgeting practices can make a difference in the way governments consider policy in respect to gender and lead to more conscious and better-informed decision making.

What are the challenges in Gender Budgeting?

Low Allocation: Despite increase in allocation in absolute terms, the share of Gender Budget in overall Union Budget has always remained less than 6%. The highest allocation was in 2011-12 at 5.8%.

Share of Gender Budget in Union Budget UPSC

Source: CPR

Skewed Allocation: The Gender Budget consists of two parts based on fund allocation. Part A with 100% allocation for women has lower share in the Gender Budget. The highest share for Part A was 46% in FY2021-22. Since 2005-06, the share of Part A was less than 30% of the overall Gender Budget for 12 years.

Share of Part A and B in Gender Budget UPSC

Source: CPR

Technical Challenges: Implementation of Gender Budgeting faces several challenges like lack of guidance, coordination, expertise among personnel, and low quality of gender impact assessments  (GIAs).

Challenges to GB UPSC

Source: IMF

Absence of Gender Disaggregated Data: Lack of gender disaggregated data make it difficult to formulate effective policies. Additionally, it limits the ability to accurately measure the effectiveness of the Gender Budgeting policies and initiatives. IMF paper notes that Governments often point out to their inability to track gender-sensitive policies over their implementation cycle, due to lack of budget classifications or failure to incorporate gender classifiers in the financial management information systems (FMIS).

Skewed Implementation: Many sectors/schemes that can have impact on women, do not practice Gender Budgeting. NITI Aayog paper on Gender Mainstreaming (June 2022) has noted that only 62 out of 119 centrally-sponsored schemes are practising GB. The paper noted that the record of Ministers associated with Environment and Climate Change, Urban Transformation, Skill etc. have done poorly.

Sector-wise Performance on Gender Mainstreaming UPSC

Sectoral Performance on Gender Mainstreaming, Source: NITI Aayog

Under-Reporting: The Gender Budget does not take into account some of the major schemes that benefit women. For instance, the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) aims to provide household tap connections to all rural households by 2024. Tap water can particularly improve women’s quality of life because it is mostly women and girls who gather water in households that do not have regular water access. Yet, none of the allocations in the JJM have been reported in the Gender Budget.

Moreover, the schemes that allocate less than 30% funds for women, are not covered in Part B of the Gender Budget.

In addition, there is lack of clarity on the way schemes allocate at least 30% of their funds for women. For instance, the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G) accounted for 24% of the Gender Budget in 2023-24 and was placed in Part A of the GB because the scheme encourages houses to be owned by women and thereby might benefit women. On the other hand, only 27% of the funds allocated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) accounted for Part B of the GB, despite women being 55% of MGNREGS workers

Lack of Accountability: There is no mandate to have a minimum allocation with respect to Gender Budget. In the absence of any accountability mechanisms regarding Gender Budgeting, monitoring and implementation continue to be inadequate.

What can be done to make Gender Budgeting more effective?

First, NITI Aayog has recommended that a Gender Budgeting Act can mainstream gender-based budgeting across all Ministries and States/UTs. The Act can also mandate all data collecting institutions to analyse and publish gender-disaggregated statistics. This can make the process of GB more scientific.

Second, the NITI Aayog has also recommended that the Ministry of Women & Child Development (MWCD) should encourage State Governments to increase budgetary allocation towards women and child development, protection and welfare schemes to ensure improved fund availability and utilisation of schemes. It has also emphasised on the need of finalising the National Policy for Women with revision in 2016 Draft Policy.

Third, there is a need to have uniform guidelines regarding Gender Budgeting. Evidence from the IMF survey shows that without guidelines or a common methodology for impact assessments, it is difficult for line Ministries to implement a common approach to GB analysis.

Fourth, the tools to monitor implementation and collect data must be improved. Better data can help in deeper analysis that can help in accurate measurement of outcomes and designing targeted initiatives for gender equality.

Fifth, the IMF recommends that fiscal policies should focus on areas where gender gaps persist. Gender Impact Assessments (GIAs) should be undertaken to help understand the gender impact of current and alternative policies. The analysis can be utilized to better redesign the policy interventions.

Conclusion

Gender Budgeting is one of the most potent tool for gender mainstreaming and achieving gender equality. India has been one of the early adopters of Gender Budgeting. Yet the process faces several challenges. The next step should be to plug these gaps and make the process more effective. As India enters the phase of Amrit Kaal, the Prime Minister has highlighted the importance of the role of Nari Shakti in achieving the goal of developed economy by 2047. This should be actioned through more responsive and effective Gender Budgeting.

Syllabus: GS I, Social empowerment; GS II, Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; GS III, Government Budgeting.

Source: Mint, Centre for Policy Research, IMF, NITI Aayog

GS PAPER - 2

The demand for a Greater Tipraland by the TIPRA Motha

Source: The post is based on the article “The demand for a Greater Tipraland by the TIPRA Motha” published in The Hindu on 13th February 2023.

Syllabus: GS 2 – Governance

Relevance: Demand for new statehood

News: The Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) Motha has come up with the demand for a Greater Tipraland in the current election of Tripura.

What is Greater Tipraland and what are the demands of TIPRA?

The party released its Vision Document in which it said that it was committed in seeking a permanent solution for the rights of the indigenous people of Tripura as per the Constitution of India.

The Greater Tipraland would be carved out as a new State for the 19 indigenous tribes of Tripura under Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution. 

This new state would go beyond the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) areas and include other villages where the Tiprasa (indigenous people of Tripura) reside in large numbers.

The party would also set up task forces to connect with the Tiprasa living in other regions of the country and the world to help them with their linguistic, cultural, social, and economic development.

What is the genesis of this demand?

The demand for Greater Tipraland has emerged from the demand for Tipraland put forth by the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) in 2009.

The demand for Tipraland was to carve out a separate State for the tribal population of Tripura from the TTAADC areas.

Whereas, the demand for Greater Tipraland goes beyond the TTAADC areas and includes at least 36 more villages where the tribal population is in the range of 20% to 36%. This also includes Muslims and Hindu population living in those regions.

Moreover, the demand for a separate statehood escalated after the refugees from East Pakistan came in Tripura between 1950 and 1952.

The conflict between the tribals and non-tribals escalated in 1980 and it took the shape of armed insurgency. However, after an agreement between the government and tribal group the matter was settled up.

Hence, from those time there has been conflict between the two and the demand for autonomous region has been emerging.

What is the implication of this demand on Tripura?

The demand for Greater Tipraland put forth by TIPRA has further deteriorated the relation between tribals and non-tribals living in the state.

Why the outrage at a minor domestic worker’s abuse is unlikely to change things

Source- The post is based on the article “Why the outrage at a minor domestic worker’s abuse is unlikely to change things” published in The Indian Express on 13thFebruary 2023.

Syllabus: GS2- Vulnerable sections of the population

Relevance– Issues related to child labor

News– Recently, inhuman treatment was experienced by a minor live-in worker at her employer’s home in Gurgaon.

What is Domestic work?

According to ILO, domestic work refers to housework such as sweeping, cleaning utensils, washing clothes, cooking, caring for children and such other work which is carried out for an employer for remuneration.

What are the problems faced Domestic workers?

They face multiple forms of violence. It includes physical abuse, intimidation, threats, bullying, sexual assault, harassment, being provided poor-quality food and a lack of privacy.

What are the laws available in India to protect the Minor from Domestic Abuse?

The Factories Act of 1948 sets limits on working hours for children aged 6 to 14. It Requires parental permission for any work over 8 hours a day.

The Employment of Children (Prohibition) Act of 1973 sets similar restrictions on ages 9 to 14. It makes it illegal to employ a child in a hazardous or dangerous occupation.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act of 1986 provides special protections for children below the age of 18 who have been involved in criminal activity.

Moving With Times – SC’s flexible approach to interpreting the Constitution has enhanced its relevance to governance

Source: The post is based on the article “Moving With Times – SC’s flexible approach to interpreting the Constitution has enhanced its relevance to governance” published in The Times of India on 13th February 2023.

Syllabus: GS 2 – Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.

Relevance: About Constitution as a living document.

News: Recently, the Supreme Court highlighted the universal debate on how a country’s Constitution should be interpreted.

About the Case recognising Constitution as a living document

There are two types of interpretations of the Constitution. a) One who believes in prism of originalism, a theory which advocates sticking to an interpretation of the Constitution’s drafters, and b) One who believes in seeing the constitution as a living document where interpretation adapts to changes in society.

The Supreme Court recently referred the writ petition to a larger bench which involves the right of a religious community to excommunicate followers.

While referring to it, the court implied the constitution as a living constitution. Such as a) The idea of freedom is not static, b) Judicial interpretation needs to keep pace with changing social mores.

How Supreme Court accepted the Constitution as a living document?

The first draft of the Constitution might not be conceptualized in every scenario. The gaps have been interpreted in light of social and economic changes.

Many landmark verdicts reflect underlying changes in society and interpreted the constitution as a living document. Four key judgments include a) Kesavananda Bharati case in 1973 led to the establishment of the basic structure doctrine. It ensured that a parliamentary majority would not lead to constitutional amendments that could undermine its essence, b) Vishaka case led the court to frame guidelines to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. In this, the court was way ahead of the legislature in responding to a big social and economic change, c) The private agreements override government control over natural resources. But in 2010, the court allowed the state to continue to exercise its grip on key areas of economic activity, and d) In 2017, in a unanimous verdict the court held the right to privacy as fundamental.

Overall, the court allowed a gradual change in the way constitutional principles are understood and applied by both the legislature and executive. In India, a flexible approach to interpretation has gradually allowed individual rights to come to the fore.

GS PAPER - 3

India’s fiscal dilemma

Source– The post is based on the article “India’s fiscal dilemma” published in The Indian Express on 13th February 2023.

Syllabus: GS3- Government budgeting

Relevance– Fiscal situation of economy

News– The recently announced budget provides a good opportunity to study the fiscal situation of the country.

What is the good news for the fiscal scenario of the country?

The fiscal situation has proved resilient to the successive shocks.

Tax collections as a percent of GDP are actually marginally higher than they were in 2018-19. On the spending side, the composition has improved. Capital expenditure has increased from 1.5% of GDP to a budgeted 3.5% of GDP.

Sizable amount of off-budget expenditures were brought back onto the budget.

The fiscal deficit is now on a downward trajectory. It is budgeted to fall to about 6% of GDP next year from a Covid peak of more than 9%.

What are the mixed developments related to the fiscal situation?

Personal income taxes have shown an encouraging rise. But, this is accompanied by increases in exemption limits. It means that taxation is now resting on a narrower base of taxpayers.

The GST’s promise has not yet been realised. The collection ratio has remained essentially the same as it was five years ago. It is because efficiency gains have been offset by repeated reductions in rates.

Furthermore, corporate tax revenues have declined significantly, because tax rates have been reduced.

What are bad signals for the fiscal situation?

There has been a notable increase in expenditures over the past five years. The true increase in expenditure remains substantial, exceeding 1.5%of GDP.

The structural fiscal deficit is budgeted to 6% of GDP next fiscal due to high expenditure.

The large deficits since 2018-19 have necessitated large amounts of borrowing. It has led to an increase in interest obligations. They now absorb nearly half of the centre’s tax revenues.

The second issue is centralisation. The states will receive just 31% of gross tax revenues next fiscal, compared with 37% in 2018-19. This reflects the centre’s increasing use of cesses, which are not shared with the states.

A subtler form of centralisation is taking place on the expenditure side. Non-interest, non-subsidy current expenditure is being compressed by 1% of GDP in 2022-23 and  0.5 % of GDP next year.

The centre is scaling back its transfers to states for various centrally sponsored schemes. Some of the reduction can be justified because it is aimed at forcing the states to improve their efficiency in their spending and managing their funds.

What are the limitations of centralisation for fiscal consolidation?

In an optimistic scenario, Centralisation can lead to improvement in state government efficiency. But,the centre will need to find other ways to reduce the deficit to its target of 4.5% of GDP.

Centralisation may not succeed in improving efficiency. In that case, states would either need to reduce the services provided to their people or increase their borrowing. The overall fiscal position might not improve at all.

India-U.S. space cooperation, from handshake to hug

Source– The post is based on the article “India-U.S. space cooperation, from handshake to hug” published in The Hindu on 13th February 2023.

Syllabus: GS3- Awareness in the field of space

Relevance– International cooperation in space for India

News– Recently, India and the United States have agreed to advance space collaboration in several areas  under the ‘initiative on critical and emerging technology’ umbrella.

What shows convergence of interests for space collaboration between the US and India?

In November 2022, the USA started its Artemis programme by launching the Orion spacecraft towards the moon. India is set to embark on its first human spaceflight mission in 2024.

The two countries have also taken significant efforts in advancing the private space sector.

What are structural factors limiting US and India collaboration in space?

Mismatch in interests– The U.S. has committed to returning to the moon. They plan to stay there for the long term. Their ambitions are firmly set on the moon.

India’s scientific community focuses on building the nation’s capability in and under earth orbits. India’s top priority is to substantially increase its satellite and launch capabilities in earth orbits and catch up with other nations such as China.

Asymmetry in capabilities– The U.S. has the highest number of registered satellites in space. It also has a range of launch vehicles serving both commercial and national security needs. SpaceX managed to achieve a record 61 launches in 2022.

India has just over 60 satellites in orbit. It cannot undertake double digit launches annually. The Indian government also opened the space industry to the private sector only in 2020.

Disagreements on space governance– Even though countries have a mindset to collaborate, the structural factors overpower diplomatic incentives to pursue long term Cooperation.

What is the way forward for India and the US to collaborate in the space sector?

There is a need for long term cooperation to sustain the engagement between academics, the private sector and state­led entities in the two countries.

Sustained engagement could also take the form of collaborating on highly specialised projects such as the NASA­-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar Mission.

India and the U.S. must find novel solutions to cooperate in the new space age to achieve a meaningful partnership.

One form of cooperation is a partnership between state and private entities. India could send its astronauts to train at American private companies. This could help India reduce its dependence on Russia.

Another novel arrangement could be a consortium led by the government owned New Space India Limited which involves private companies in the U.S.

This setup could accelerate India’s human spaceflight programme and give the U.S. an opportunity to accommodate Indian interests in earth orbits.

A question of quorum

Source– The post is based on the article “A question of quorum” published in the Business Standard on 13th February 2023.

Syllabus: GS3- Indian economy

Relevance– Regulation of economic activities

News–  Competition Commission of India has invoked the “doctrine of necessity” to clear six deals involving mergers & acquisitions and investment proposals.

What are the issues raised by this event?

It lacked the requisite three-member quorum after the Chairperson retired. The Competition Act provides that there should be at least three members to approve deals.

But, the CCI obtained a green signal for a two-member quorum from the law ministry to the corporate affairs ministry.

What is the legality of action by CCI?

CCI’s actions were not a violation of the law.

Section 15 of the Competition Act provides that no proceeding of the commission shall be invalid due to any vacancy in, or any defect in the constitution of the Commission.

As per section 15, any irregularity in the procedure of the Commission not affecting the merits of the case shall not make the proceeding invalid.

What are the important questions raised by CCI action?

The first is the delay in the appointment of a new chairperson.

The second is that the government was unable to find a suitable successor by the time of Chairman retirement. In this scenario, a reference to the law ministry on the issue of a quorum ahead of the event would have also reduced the anxiety for companies and investors waiting for their deals to be cleared.

The third is whether a two-member commission has the ability to scrutinise the merits of so many deals.

Challenging Google – New AI-driven search can be disruptive

Source: The post is based on the article “Challenging Google – New AI-driven search can be disruptive” published in the Business Standard on 13th February 2023.

Syllabus: GS 3 – Science and Technology developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.

Relevance: About AI-driven search engines.

News: Artificial intelligence (AI) programs involving Natural Language Processing (NLP) have caused a shift in the way people use web searches. AI-driven search engines may lead to radical changes in the way search is monetised via advertising, and it could challenge Google’s dominant search engine.

What is ChatGPT?

Must read: What is OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot, why it has become a viral sensation

What is the potential of Generative AI?

Read more: The potential of generative AI: creating media with simple text prompts

How AI-driven search engines are different from Conventional engines?

Conventional engines list only relevant links. But the AI-driven search engines such as ChatGPT and Bard are different from Conventional engines as a) They have behavioural sense and they offer more “human” filtering of search results, b) They present search results in an essay format rather than just displaying links, c) They have the ability to write essays or even poetry on demand. AI-assisted fiction is another possibility that may change the publishing industry.

They also have other applications such as one can use ChatGPT to write software code to perform various functions, or perhaps using NLP to build an autonomous driving application.

What are the challenges with AI-driven search engines?

The AI-driven search engines have the following concerns, a) Though their searches are plausible and comprehensive, they are not necessarily accurate, b) There is a possibility that they will over-reach assertions. Conspiracy theories and opinions can be presented as facts if they are stated by “authorities”. For instance, Bard asserted the James Webb Space Telescope was the first telescope to take pictures of an exoplanet, which is wrong, c) Their ability to write essays and poems might create a new kind of plagiarism.

What do AI-driven search engines mean as a business activity?

NLP-based searches could lead to an entirely new revenue model for one of the Web’s biggest market segments. Advertising revenue share might move to new players, or perhaps create some entirely different revenue model.

Google has been dominating search and it has built an empire around the cash cow of resulting advertising revenues. This is finally being challenged now with AI-driven search engines.

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