Over 50% Indian gamers see a career in gaming
As many as 52% of Indian gamers now consider gaming a viable career path as player earnings this year have steadily increased compared to 2022, according to the HP India Gaming Landscape Study 2023. Around 40% of serious gamers claimed to earn between Rs 600,000-1,200,000 per annum in 2023. Sponsorships and e-sports tournaments have emerged as significant income sources, the report said. The company has introduced the HP Gaming Garage, a free-of-cost online professional certificate program on Esports management and Game development. 42% of parents prefer gaming as a hobby. 30% of parents prefer it as a part-time career. 17% prefer it as a full-time career. 74% gamers are male.
X may Lose $75m Revenue as More Advertisers Pull Out
X or Twitter, may lose up to $75 million in advertising revenue by the end of the year as major brands pause marketing spending on the site. More than 200 ad units of major brands like Airbnb, Amazon, Coca-Cola and Microsoft that have either halted or considered pausing ad spending on the platform. X said that $11 million in revenue was at risk and the exact figure fluctuated due to some advertisers returning to the platform and others increasing their spending. Reuters previously reported that X’s ad revenue has declined at least 55% year-over-year each month since Musk’s takeover. X has struggled with advertisers balking at Musk’s cuts to content moderation since his ownership group acquired the company and took it private in a $44 billion deal a year ago. Those woes mounted after a report by left-wing group Media Matters alleged the company ran ads for major brands alongside pro-Nazi posts and other antisemitic content. IBM, Apple and Lionsgate Entertainment were among the brands that paused advertising on the X platform amid the controversy.
Indian Gen Z spend 73% more time learning AI skills than other generations
The global AI conversations shot up by 70% from December 2022 to September 2023, while applications to AI and AI-related job postings increased by 11% globally and 5.6% in India. The data was revealed by LinkedIn’s ‘Future of Work: State of AI @ Work’ report. Experts believe that AI’s growing importance has led to a greater adoption of the technology at work, resulting in an increased need for AI talent. Industries in India that are seeing the greatest demand for individuals with AI skills include Professional Services, Technology, Information and Media, and Financial Services. There has been a nearly 80% increase in LinkedIn members watching AI-related courses on LinkedIn Learning this quarter. In India, preferred skills among learners vary across generations: while Gen Z is learning digital skills like Programming Languages, Cloud Computing, Data Analysis, millennials and Gen X are investing in soft skills like Leadership and Management, Personal Effectiveness, and Personal Development. India’s Gen Z professionals are more interested in acquiring AI skills than their older counterparts – 1.3x more than Gen X and 2.4x more than Baby Boomers. In fact, India’s Gen Z spend 73% more time learning on LinkedIn compared to other generations.
Only 37% financial cos have undergone actual cloud transformation
While nine out of 10 (91%) of banks and insurance companies have started their cloud journey, Only 37% of firms have undergone actual cloud transformations, according to the Capgemini Research Institute’s “World Cloud Report on Financial Services” published on Friday. However, this high rate of adoption does not result in effective cloud adoption at scale, as more than 50% of firms have only moved a small portion of their core business applications to the cloud. The report reveals that 62% of financial services firms have begun using artificial intelligence (AI), with the goal of utilizing it across the entire value chain within the next two years. However, AI and machine learning technologies are not being used at scale in the industry and therefore have limited impact. The research also shows that cloud investments have primarily been focused on modern, user-friendly, AI-based customer-facing applications. Less investment is being made in back-end core processing systems, resulting in a poor overall user experience. According to the report, migrating internal core systems to cloud-enabled ecosystems and platforms is crucial to unlock the full potential and efficiency of AI.
95% of Indian employees believe that AI in the workplace can improve their quality of life
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping the professional landscape in India, according to a recent study by UKG. The study, spanning nine countries and surveying over 4,000 employees, provides insights into the intricate relationship between AI and the Indian workforce. The findings indicate that a substantial 72% of Indian employees are directly involved with AI-powered tools in their workplaces. Notably, generative AI tools like Chat GPT (75%), Open AI (47%), and Google Bard (22%) have become integral to both professional and personal aspects of their lives. Despite concerns, 95% of Indian employees express optimism about AI’s positive impact on their lives. The report highlights that employees have perceived more benefits (52%) from AI implementation compared to the advantages realized by companies (49%). However, a significant knowledge gap exists, with only 47% of employees fully understanding and 44% partially understanding how AI is utilized in their workplaces. In India, a striking 91% of employees trust content generated by AI tools to some extent. Furthermore, 93% of employees actively leverage AI assistance in creating original content, underlining the growing influence of AI in key organizational operations.
Mobile Broadband User Base Inches up to 839 M
India’s mobile broadband (MBB) (4G) user base grew by 7.2% in the last one year to 839 MN. But the additions increased in August fuelled by Jio’s affordable internet-enabled 4G phone (Jio Bharat). The challenge is for telcos to entice users with high-priced plans. But analysts are hopeful that the festive season will accelerate the MBB user base due to stable tariffs, fall in 4G handset prices. India’s 2G or non-MBB shrunk by 165 to 309 MN. Jio has added the maximum 4G users at 3.2 MN, Airtel is second in MBB users with 2.6 MN subscribers and Vodafone Idea with 1.3 MN. It is expected in the coming year that both Airtel & Reliance Jio will have more conversions from 2G to 4G, especially in rural areas.
People+ai Readies Blueprint for Digital Public Infrastructure for Open Computers
A digital public infrastructure (DPI) for creating a network of interoperable data centres in the country is in the works. It aims to address the issue of lack of compute capacity in India, especially with the advent of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). Compute capacity defines the amount of server and storage resources that are available to the databases in an instance. When you create an instance, you specify its compute capacity as a number of processing units or as a number of nodes, with 1,000 processing units being equal to 1 node The idea is to build a network of micro-data centres, with interoperable standards so that small businesses and startups can plug and play it as per their requirement. “The government buying graphic processing units (GPUs) is necessary, but not sufficient,” Tanuj Bhojwani, head of People+ai said. “We believe there’s a more sophisticated solution, which is, we need to create the conditions for the Indian ecosystem to be able to invest in compute.” People+ai is a community of innovators that aims to help the Indian ecosystem leverage the power of AI for building solutions at scale. Pramod Varma, chief architect of Aadhaar and India Stack, and the technology mind behind several DPIs, including GSTN and UPI, is mentoring this latest DPI as well. For certain types of compute workloads, a startup micro-data centre can procure the hardware and plug it into this network, Bhojwani said. “On the other hand, anybody can provision this compute. If I’m a small startup and all I want to do is run a database, I can approach this network and request for someone to give me compute power. This network will help orchestrate that,” he said. What People+ai is proposing is a set of interoperable open standards for end consumers and developers. Currently, if a customer adopts an Amazon Web Services (AWS) stack, one is locked-in into that stack, into that software, he said. It takes a lot of engineering effort to move to another cloud like Google, or a smaller cloud player, he said. If you have an interoperable default set of standards, it becomes easier to switch from cloud service providers they don’t like, he explained.
Microsoft Unveils its Text-to-Speech Avatar Tool
During the Microsoft Ignite 2023 event, the company launched its Azure AI Speech text-to-speech avatar creator. This tool is currently available for public preview and its main function is to create deep fakes of people for use. Microsoft also shows off how users can benefit from this new tool that they are adding to their list of AI-powered tools. This new deep fake creator lets users make videos of people talking by just making a script and uploading the person’s image. After doing this, the AI will then work on the image provided and make the person say the words in the script. Two AI models are working together to make this new feature a reality. One focuses on the animation, while the other turns its attention to the text-to-speech side of things. According to Microsoft, this new tool will be beneficial for businesses as they will be able to “build training videos, product introductions, customer testimonials [and so on] simply with text input.” Businesses looking to create realistic virtual assistants or chatbots can turn to this new feature for assistance. Over the past few months, there have been complaints about the abuse of AI across the world. Scammers and bad actors have turned to these tools to make their jobs easier for them. Without necessary regulations, these have collectively been able to make away with millions of unsuspecting users. Now, nobody is saying that the Microsoft Azure AI Speech text-to-speech avatar is here to make scamming easier. But can this tool be accessible to these scammers and bad actors who will abuse its intended usage? The answer to that question is a resounding yes, so there need to be strong regulations for the usage of this new AI tool from Microsoft.
OpenAI to Hit Pause on Paid Subscriptions
OpenAI will pause accepting new users for its paid ChatGPT Plus service due to overwhelming demand, Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman said in a post. Altman’s company introduced new features and upgrades at its first-ever developer conference last week, allowing users to build custom versions of ChatGPT to accomplish specific tasks. The announcements triggered a rise in demand for OpenAI’s artificial intelligence tools and services. “The surge in usage has exceeded our capacity and we want to make sure everyone has a great experience,” Altman wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. The AI startup said at its conference that roughly 100 million people use its services every week and more than 90% of Fortune 500 businesses are building tools on OpenAI’s platform. With the new option, users will be able to create their own specialized versions of ChatGPT — simply called GPTs — that can help teach math to a child or explain the rules of a board game. No coding is required, the company said. OpenAI also plans to introduce a store later this month where users can find tailored GPTs from other users — and make money from their own — much as they might with apps in Apple Inc.’s App Store.
YouTube’s Laying Rules for Responsible AI Tech Innovation
YouTube has announced a slew of measures to further its approach to responsible AI innovation at a time when generative AI is making content creation quicker, easier, and more accessible while also throwing up challenges in checking its misuse such as deepfakes. Here is a look at the platform’s proposed initiatives:
- YouTube will introduce updates that inform viewers when the content they’re seeing is synthetic.
- It will require creators to disclose when they’ve created content that is realistic, including using AI tools.
- Creators who consistently choose not to disclose this information may be subject to content removal, suspension from the YouTube Partner Program, or other penalties.