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AI in Real World, so Dickens-Like

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Like many companies, Meta (formerly known as Facebook) decided to use AI as its customer support chatbot (instead of humans). It resulted in a ridiculously easy way to hack Instagram accounts (Meta/Facebook owns Instagram).   So easy that even a layman can understand it (and be shocked). Hackers who wanted to hack anyone’s Insta account would initiate a chat with the AI support bot and ask for the email ID associated with the account be updated. The AI would do it, no questions asked! Then the hacker would initiate a password reset request on the target account. An OTP-like verification code would be sent to the associated email ID (But remember, this is now the mail ID that the hacker had changed via the chat bot). He’d enter the verification code, and bingo! Password reset and the Insta account had been hacked. “The attack did not rely on sophisticated malware, zero-day exploits or technical vulnerabilities in Instagram itself. Instead, attackers manipulated the AI system t...
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Single Party Dominance #1: Characteristics

How does the same party keep winning elections for abnormally long periods? Like the Left and Mamata (until this time) in Bengal? Like the BJP winning elections across the country for almost 15 years (except the last national election)? Like how the Congress used to win from independence onwards?   This is the question Raghu S Jaitley analyses and it makes for interesting reading. One would imagine that a party should not win continuously for long periods: “Economic underperformance naturally produces anti-incumbency, unemployment translates into anger, inflation gets punished, and that, over time, voters simply get tired.” What then explains all the “aberrations” listed in the first para? Why didn’t “anti-incumbency… mechanically restore equilibrium”?   Jaitley only focusses on the Congress and BJP because, at their prime, they were (are?) winning continuously both at the national level and at multiple state levels, and therefore they are relevant to all Indian...
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Egocentric and Geocentric Coordinates

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There are two types of systems used in languages to give directions, writes Guy Deutscher in Through the Language Glass . First , the one most of us know ( egocentric ), i.e., directions wrt the individual. Turn left . Half a kilometer ahead . All directions are from the perspective of the individual. It is easy to understand why this is so popular – you don’t need a map or a compass, it feels so intuitive.   Except that, ( second ) many languages specify directions in geocentric terms. In those languages, directions are specified as north, south, east, and west, not left or right! Which languages are these? Many native languages of Australia, South East Asia, Mexico, Nepal and Madagascar. “We have simply mistaken the familiar for the natural.”   The obvious feeling would be that geocentric terms can only work for groups that stay in small areas all their life. When they tested this hypothesis by driving some natives far from their native areas, places they had ne...
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Dubai #4: And Yet...

The Dubai series of blogs was based on (and written) before the Iran war. Given how small the UAE is, how it has never shown signs of religious fanatism, how cosmopolitan Dubai and Abu Dhabi are, how integrated Dubai is as an airport hub and tourist destination, I was curious why Iran targets the UAE so much more compared to the other Gulf countries during the war.   Well, there are multiple reasons. One , UAE (like so many other Gulf countries) hosts American military and air force bases. Iran attacked those to increase the cost to the US and for the PR value of destroying American bases. But that should apply for all other Gulf countries as well, so it doesn’t explain why Iran targets UAE so much more. Which brings us to Two . UAE is very close (100 km), comfortably within Iran’s short-range missiles and drones, making it a cheaper option to hit. Three , the fact that Dubai (and Abu Dhabi) are global financial hubs means the splatter is felt world over. Four , the UAE had bu...
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Must Convey v/s May Convey

Does a language influence how and even what its users think (or don’t think)? At first glance, this seems ridiculous. Even if a language doesn’t have a word for a concept, surely users will just describe the concept using a group of words when needed, right? The absence of a word definitely does not mean that users of a language don’t know or understand the associated concept, reiterates Guy Deutscher in Through the Language Glass .   Wilhelm von Humbldt explained that the point of the above question was more nuanced, i.e., to check “what (a language) encourages and simulates its speakers to do from its own inner force”. Max Muller said something similar: “The words in which we think are channels of thought which we have not dug ourselves, but which we found ready made for us!” Bertrand Russell expressed this point even more strongly: “Language misleads us by its vocabulary and by its syntax. We must be on our guard in both respects if our logic is not to lead to false...
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Dubai #3: This Century

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By the turn of the century, urban development was the driving force for Dubai, writes Tomas Pueyo.. The Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, is the most famous landmark. The world’s 2 nd largest mall, the Dubai Mall (with an aquarium and underwater zoo), came up. Land was reclaimed to create the famous Palm Jumeirah.   Dubai understood the synergies between different modes of transportation, so: “It didn’t only invest in its port and coast. It continued investing in its airport and airline.” Today, Dubai is the world’s 2 nd busiest international airport, and Emirates airlines is a synonym for opulence and coverage.   Those old selling points from when it became an SEZ – safety, low taxes, tolerance – continue and remain key attractions even today. Dubai is (was?) as safe as Tokyo and Singapore, and definitely a whole lot safer than any Western city.   Criticism of the rulers or religion is not allowed. Media is controlled by the state. Public protests are not a...
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Language Differences

In Through the Language Glass , Guy Deutscher looks at areas where languages differ. An area where culture dominates are the relationship words. Most Indian languages, for example, have different words for older/younger relatives and maternal/paternal side relatives. Not so with English. Why? Cultural differences.   Another area where there seems to be no pattern across languages is grammar. Word ordering is radically different across languages, the ordering of one can feel back-to-front in another.   A widespread belief is that the languages of “primitive” people must be as simple as their societies. Deutscher blames this misconception on the “sources”, i.e., “from Tintin to Westerns” where the natives speak in that rudimentary “me no come, Sahib” way. The problem of course is that the assessment is being made based on how they speak the language of the white man, a language with which natives have limited familiarity. Just check out how an English speaker talks in Ge...
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