Browsing: technology

Will India Care About The Metaverse As Much As It Has For AI?

So, in 2021, Mark Zuckerberg changed Facebook's name to Meta. Later on, Elon Musk would change Twitter's name, too, but, at the time, it raised some eyebrows. After all, it seemed emblematic of the idea that Mark was going all in with his poker chips on the Metaverse with a belief that it would be the successor to the Internet and shape all digital experiences with use cases ranging from hanging out with friends to entertainment, gaming, fitness and education. The power of belief.

Meta announced a product called the "Meta Quest Pro" in 2022 for the cheap price of $1500 (about ₹125,000). Some guffawed. In a country, like India, would such a burgeoning technology even have some user stickiness? People may have thought, "It's too futuristic. It won't be for the masses. It'll be on the periphery of technology. The world's not ready for futuristic technology".

Then, OpenAI went public with a ChatGPT model. Suddenly, there were crazy rates of adoption across the world, even in India. According to BCG, as of 2024, India was the largest user of ChatGPT with about 45% of respondents revealing they used the chatbot. It may have even sparked an influx of AI startups with subsequent funding following, almost like the 2021 funding frenzy.

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Could India Soon Have Marriages Between People & AI?

"In sickness and in health. Till death do us part"

That's one of the notions that make for a strong marriage, as per one of the major religions of the world. But, sometimes, marriages may have rocky foundations. Sometimes, the spark fizzles out. Sometimes, people get bored and they don't find monogamy all that appealing. Maybe, over time, priorities change and people in a marriage start giving each other less time. Some may end up wanting more support. Others feel like they have to compromise on getting a perfect partner worried they will end up never being wed. Maybe, at some point, each party of a couple ends up becoming just co-habitants of a house.

But, does technology change all of that? Sure, it seems like the golden age of AI is underway. But, beyond the apparent impact of AI across industries, has it gone beyond business use cases to provide something more personal? The 2013 Hollywood movie "Her" with Joaquin Phoenix, before he became a Joker, seemed to warn us, but at the time, it seemed too futuristic for any of us to really care. But, are those connections really forming?

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Can Blockchain Take The Creator Economy To The Next Level?

In April 2024, a news report outlined that social media personality Tanmay Bhat's net worth was said to be more than 650 crore rupees. Sounds pretty cool. Bhat responded to this claim, remarking that the number was wildly off. Nonetheless, it seems like he may be pretty well-off. Content creators in the creator economy, like Bhat, MrBeast, MostlySane or others, may be pretty successful.

In 2022, according to Kalaari Capital, India had about 80 million content creators. But, only about 150,000 of them can effectively monetize their services. The 150k of them were said to be earning about $200 to $2500, which is about 16,000 rupees to 200,000 rupees a month. Less than 1% of professional creators with more than a million followers were said to be earning more than 50 lakh rupees a month. However, that could just mean some do better than others, that happens in all industries.

And sure, the creator economy could signify the power of independence and individual creativity. 

But, are there certain hurdles that creators face that could be solved by Blockchain? It's said that content creators in the creator economy are struggling with monetization models relying heavily on intermediaries. Could Blockchain disrupt this paradigm and help with better monetization avenues?

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What Could India’s EdTech Landscape Learn From The Metaverse?

Picture a classroom. A teacher is looking at how to make their classes more engaging and immersive. They've heard about the Metaverse - a collective virtual shared space using different kinds of tech. They've heard it's a realm where the digital and physical worlds could meet and where there could be an immersive and interactive experience. "Why not?", they say, "How can the students use this?" 

So, when the teacher is teaching about the Ajanta and Ellora Caves, they select a virtual classroom space resembling these caves. The students get to create personalized avatars to represent themselves in this virtual classroom. The avatars can interact with each other and the environment. Instead of showing a PPT on a screen that's pulled down, there's a virtual field trip to these caves. They can explore and ask questions. Now, the teacher has their undivided attention.

That could be interesting to see in India. And in the EdTech sector, that seems to be fraught with challenges as of late, that could create use cases. In a sector that might be struggling to build a value proposition beyond a pandemic, could this be a panacea? EdTech's goal has always been about leveraging tech to augment educational outreach and quality. And that seems to be India's goal as well. So, with burgeoning digital infrastructure and a government that seems committed to a Digital India, could this be the next frontier of the EdTech revolution?

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