One of the fastest growing categories of AI services is artificial companions. Recent advances in large language models have significantly accelerated its proliferation. But as much as there are benefits to conversational engagement with artificial intelligence, there are psychological implications we will have to consider.

Artificial Intelligence has the potential to significantly enhance our digital public infrastructure by bringing variety to a DPI approach that has so far been optimised for standardisation.

There has been growing concerns around the risks of open source AI. In the recent past these have begun to manifest themselves in the form of export restrictions on open source AI models - that could have a deleterious effect on India’s AI strategy.

There is a strange aversion in government circles to the use of open source software. I am no entirely sure where it comes from but I can try and debunk some of the misgivings they have. In most instances, releasing code as open source is actually a good idea.

Much of the reason why India has not yet achieved its full potential is because we simply have not invested in the institutional foundations of the Indian State. But, as Karthik Muralidharan describes in his authoratative book on the subject, there is reason to be optimistic.

A new paper from the Bank for International Settlements proposes the creation of a unified ledger and the tokenisation of everything. If it is successful, this could represent the most fundamental re-imagining of the banking system since the Medicis.

Artificial intelligence might eventually replace us. But it still has a long way to go. In the meantime, rather than fretting about what might be, we should learn to use it so that we can make the most of all the efficiencies it offers. Here is how I do that.

One of the more worrisome provisions of India’s new data protection law has to do with processing of children’s data - and in particular, how data fiduciaries should go about verifying the age of those whose data they process. Thanks to India’s digital public infrastructure, I believe we may have a novel solution.

For the longest time, questions have been raised about the business model for UPI and how the industry should charge for its services. The government has prohibited MDR on UPI transactions, but it should still be possible for us to develop a new revenue model.

Last year there was widespread support for India’s DPI approach—with countries around the world hailing its achievements, and looking to emulate them. Over the past few months, however, the voices of dissent have grown steadily louder. Rather than allow arguments against DPI to go unanswered, I thought it best to deal with them head-on.