Revenge of the AI ?

Hindustan Times ( 30 Sept 2016 ) carries following news report :

Facebook, Amazon, Google, IBM and Microsoft on one AI platform

In a major boost to artificial intelligence (AI) research, five top-notch tech

 companies -- Facebook, Amazon, Google, IBM and Microsoft -- have joined

 hands to announce a historic partnership on AI and machine learning.

It means that these companies will discuss advancements and conduct research

 in AI and how to develop best products and services powered by machine

 learning, Tech Crunch reported on Thursday.

Initial financial help will come from these companies and as other stakeholders

 join the group, the finances are expected to increase.

“We want to involve people impacted by AI as well,” Mustafa Suleyman, co-

founder and head of applied AI at DeepMind, a subsidiary of Alphabet (parent 

company of Google), was quoted as saying.

According to the report, the organisational structure has been designed to allow

 non-corporate groups to have equal leadership side-by-side with large tech

 companies.

“The power of AI is in the enterprise sector. For society at-large to get the

 benefits of AI, we first have to trust it,” Francesca Rossi, AI ethics researcher at

 IBM Research, told Tech Crunch.

AI-powered bots will become the next interface, shaping our interactions with

 the applications and devices we rely on and Microsoft’s latest solutions are set

 to change the way HP interacts with its customers and partners, Microsoft’s

 Indian-born Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said recently.

At Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in August, Nadella had said that AI-

powered chatbots will “fundamentally revolutionise how computing is 

experienced by everybody.”

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By " burying " this news on page 17 , in 10 CC ( column centimeter ), it was

 as if the HT Editor was saying :

"  Ignore this - it is of little consequence ! "

Now , fast forward to year 2026

In HT's office , you won't find ,

*  Watchman / Receptionist / Reporters / Journalists / Composers / Graphic

 Designers / Editors / Operators etc

All will be replaced by AI Robots , embedded into Computers / Cameras /

 Printing Machines / Delivery Drones  !

And those AI Robots would select / print news such as this , in large , bold 

headlines on the Front Page !

I only hope , AI of 2026 remains devoid of human frailties of jealousy / anger 

/ revenge !

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30  Sept  2016

www.hemenparekh.in  

One Car per Family ?

Hindustan Times ( 28 Sept 2016 ) carries a news report titled :

"  Traffic Menace :  HC says restrict cars per family "

The report goes on to read :

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

" Considering Mumbai’s nightmarish traffic congestion, it is perhaps time for the state to restrict “the number of cars per family” and moving some of the traffic off the road, to “water”.

The bench asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, the state Urban Development Ministry and the traffic police department to sit together and come up with a holistic policy to decongest the city’s roads.

Every household now has more than one vehicle. We are told around 1,000 to 1,300 new vehicles get registered by the RTO each day. A large number of private vehicles enter the city every morning and leave in the evenings, but these have no space for parking through the day. The government cannot sit on the problem anymore,” the bench said. "

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Noble intentions indeed  !

But the questions that arise are :

#   What about millions of families who already have more than one car today ? Can a law force them to sell off

     those extra cars ? Can they be allowed to buy a new car to replace an old / polluting one with an Electric car ?

#   If law cannot force 4 car families to dispose off 3 cars, then would it be fair to deny a NIL car family to buy 2 ?

#   Even if such a law gets passed , is it possible / practical to monitor its compliance in case of some

     2.8 million new cars being manufactured / sold , each year ?  Does the government have the necessary

     administrative machinery to enforce it ?

#   What is the definition of a " family " ? Who is considered a member of a " family " ?

#   What to do in case a person owning a car marries another person , also owning a car ? Or adopts one ?

You see , this gets very messy !

I believe , that ROAD TRANSPORT POLICY , requested by the High Court , should comprise of following elements :

#   GOAL

     To reduce no of vehicles on the roads , in order to speed up travel and reduce pollution

#   POLICY  INSTRUMENTS

     *  Discouragement to manufacture / sale of Petrol / Diesel vehicles

     *  Discouragement for owning of Petrol / Diesel vehicles

     *  Discouragement for " Owning " any vehicle at all

     *  Encouragement for manufacture of Electric Vehicles

     *  Encouragement for " owning " of Electric Vehicles

     *   Encouragement for using " Public Transport " / " Ride Sharing Taxies "

 #    HOW  ?

    *  Heavy taxation on manufacturers of Petrol / Diesel vehicles ( 50 % Corporate Income Tax  ? )

      *  Heavy " Annual Road Tax " on owners of Petrol / Diesel vehicles ( Rs 5 lakh/ year , ala SINGAPORE  model )

      *  Heavy taxation when a person buys a Petrol / Diesel vehicle  ( 30 % GST ? ), raising " Cost of Owning "

      *  ZERO Corporate Income Tax for manufacturers of Electric Vehicles ( for 10 years )

      *  Only 5 % GST on sale of Electric Vehicles ( 0 % if vehicle is DRIVER-LESS ? )

      *  No GST ( total exemption ) for purchase of Electric Vehicles by Public Transport Companies ( including " Ride

          Sharing Taxies )

      *  Total exemption from Road Tax for Electrically driven , Ride Sharing Taxies / Public Transport Buses ,

          enabling them to offer rides at Rs 1 per km ( 2 days back , OLA reduced it to Rs 3 per km ! )

     *   Carbon Credit ( thru DBT ? ) of Rs 1 per Km , for both the rider and the owner of an Electric Vehicle bases

          Public Transport ( including Ride Sharing Taxies ) , as explained in my earlier emails to Shri Nitin Gadkariji :

         *   PUBLICTRANSPORT AS A SOLUTION ?

               {  http://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/02/public-transport-as-solution.html  }

 

         *    RetiringOld Vehicles - Gadkari Style ?

             {  http://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/05/retiring-old-vehicles-gadkari-style.html  }

 

        *    Tablets inTaxies ?

            {   http://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/05/tablets-in-taxies.html  }

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28  Sept  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

 

One Car per Family ?

Hindustan Times ( 28 Sept 2016 ) carries a news report titled :

"  Traffic Menace :  HC says restrict cars per family "

The report goes on to read :

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

" Considering Mumbai’s nightmarish traffic congestion, it is perhaps time for the state to restrict “the number of cars per family” and moving some of the traffic off the road, to “water”.

The bench asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, the state Urban Development Ministry and the traffic police department to sit together and come up with a holistic policy to decongest the city’s roads.

Every household now has more than one vehicle. We are told around 1,000 to 1,300 new vehicles get registered by the RTO each day. A large number of private vehicles enter the city every morning and leave in the evenings, but these have no space for parking through the day. The government cannot sit on the problem anymore,” the bench said. "

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Noble intentions indeed  !

But the questions that arise are :

#   What about millions of families who already have more than one car today ? Can a law force them to sell off

     those extra cars ? Can they be allowed to buy a new car to replace an old / polluting one with an Electric car ?

#   If law cannot force 4 car families to dispose off 3 cars, then would it be fair to deny a NIL car family to buy 2 ?

#   Even if such a law gets passed , is it possible / practical to monitor its compliance in case of some

     2.8 million new cars being manufactured / sold , each year ?  Does the government have the necessary

     administrative machinery to enforce it ?

#   What is the definition of a " family " ? Who is considered a member of a " family " ?

#   What to do in case a person owning a car marries another person , also owning a car ? Or adopts one ?

You see , this gets very messy !

I believe , that ROAD TRANSPORT POLICY , requested by the High Court , should comprise of following elements :

#   GOAL

     To reduce no of vehicles on the roads , in order to speed up travel and reduce pollution

#   POLICY  INSTRUMENTS

     *  Discouragement to manufacture / sale of Petrol / Diesel vehicles

     *  Discouragement for owning of Petrol / Diesel vehicles

     *  Discouragement for " Owning " any vehicle at all

     *  Encouragement for manufacture of Electric Vehicles

     *  Encouragement for " owning " of Electric Vehicles

     *   Encouragement for using " Public Transport " / " Ride Sharing Taxies "

 #    HOW  ?

    *  Heavy taxation on manufacturers of Petrol / Diesel vehicles ( 50 % Corporate Income Tax  ? )

      *  Heavy " Annual Road Tax " on owners of Petrol / Diesel vehicles ( Rs 5

 lakh/ year , ala SINGAPORE  model )

      *  Heavy taxation when a person buys a Petrol / Diesel vehicle  ( 30 % GST

 ? ), raising " Cost of Owning "

      *  ZERO Corporate Income Tax for manufacturers of Electric Vehicles ( for

 10 years )

      *  Only 5 % GST on sale of Electric Vehicles ( 0 % if vehicle is DRIVER-LESS ? )

      *  No GST ( total exemption ) for purchase of Electric Vehicles by Public

 Transport Companies ( including " Ride

          Sharing Taxies )

      *  Total exemption from Road Tax for Electrically driven , Ride Sharing

 Taxies / Public Transport Buses ,

          enabling them to offer rides at Rs 1 per km ( 2 days back , OLA reduced

 it to Rs 3 per km ! )

     *   Carbon Credit ( thru DBT ? ) of Rs 1 per Km , for both the rider and the 

owner of an Electric Vehicle bases

          Public Transport ( including Ride Sharing Taxies ) , as explained in my

 earlier emails to Shri Nitin Gadkariji :

         *   PUBLICTRANSPORT AS A SOLUTION ?

               {  http://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/02/public-transport-as-solution.html  }

 

         *    RetiringOld Vehicles - Gadkari Style ?

             {  http://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/05/retiring-old-vehicles-gadkari-style.html  }

 

        *    Tabletsin Taxies ?

            {   http://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/05/tablets-in-taxies.html  }

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

28  Sept  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs