OpenAI ChatGPT: Generative AI Buzz in Pakistan
A Singapore-based cybersecurity firm Group-IB discovered in June that over 100,000 ChatGPT user accounts were compromised and their credentials found on the Dark Web. Among the accounts reported compromised, India topped with 12,632, followed by Pakistan with 9,217 and Brazil with 6,531. Bangladesh witnessed the fewest instances with 2,463. This report gave a glimpse of the high interest level of Indians and Pakistanis in generative AI. Another report attributed to Similarweb, which tracks popularity of websites by number of visitors, ranked ChatGPT in Pakistan at number 7, ahead of Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Globally ChatGPT website is ranked 17th. Prior to this, there was a series of news reports about the launch of Presidential Initiative for Artificial Intelligence and Computing (PIAIC) by President Arif Alvi, and then came the government's policy to train one million AI experts in the country by 2027. Pakistanis published 2,600 AI-related research papers from 2016 to 2020, according to Statista.
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| Top 10 Countries by Number of ChatGPT Accounts Compromised. Source: Group IB |
Back in 2017, then Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi inaugurated a National Centre for Artificial Intelligence (NCAI) at the National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) in Islamabad. It was followed by a Rs 1.1 billion budgetary allocation for select universities with AI research to be coordinated by NCAI. In 2020, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) set up a Center of Artificial Intelligence and Computing (CENTAIC).
While OpenAI is the first to offer a Generative AI model trained on vast amounts of data, Google has also joined the generative AI race with its own offering. Google BARD appears to have capabilities similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT. Very little is known about the specific datasets used for training either of them, raising some trust issues about the results produced by them.
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| Training/Using Generative AI Foundation Models. Source: Analytics Vidhya |
Top global cloud operators Amazon, Google and Microsoft are now offering generative AI services to their clients for an additional fee. Cloud apps developers in Pakistan and elsewhere can train these base models on their custom datasets to develop AI applications for agriculture, business, education, finance, healthcare, law etc. The AI market in Pakistan is currently estimated at $123 million by Statista Market Insights.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently featured four Pakistani startups at the forefront of AI/ML: SalesFlo, Ozoned Digital, XpertFlow and Trukkr. SalesFlo offers sales software for FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) companies. Ozoned Digital caters to the technology needs of the insurance industry. XpertFlow is an AI-powered preventative healthcare company. Trukkr provides financial services and technology for logistics. These and other startups are well positioned to take advantage of the new generative AI services being offered by cloud vendors.
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https://thetruthinternational.com/latest-updates/chatgpt-rapidly-penetrating-in-pakistan-amongst-youth/
Similarweb, a renowned ranking service for internet services and websites, ranks ChatGPT at 7th position among the popular websites for Pakistani internet users.
This ranking places ChatGPT ahead of Instagram at 8th position, Twitter at 9th position, and TikTok at 10th. This trend shows the rapidly growing acceptance and usage of AI-powered conversational agents in Pakistan’s digital landscape.
Globally, OpenAI’s website secures the 17th spot with astounding 1.90 billion visits in the month of May alone.
Notably, over 81% of the visitors fall within the age range of 18 to 44 years, indicating ChatGPT’s widespread appeal among young and tech-savvy individuals worldwide.
The rapid success of ChatGPT is connected to its wide range of capabilities. Its users can leverage the chatbot to easily access desired information, generate content, and perform various tasks.
Its intuitive interface and powerful AI technology have made it an invaluable tool for individuals seeking instant answers, article writing assistance, and more.
https://www.forrester.com/blogs/generative-ai-will-sprint-into-your-business-through-four-doors/
Generative AI (gen AI) was born on November 30, 2022, with the release of ChatGPT, and it’s been moving 100 miles an hour ever since, drawing in 100 million people and counting. As new and surprisingly powerful as gen AI is, we can already see how companies will incorporate gen AI capabilities into their businesses’ strategies and operations. Our experience with two earlier, explosive technologies show you how.
The BYO explosion of the late 2000s taught us how to incorporate employee-led disruption. We learned that when employees brought personal technology to solve customer and business problems. We empowered, guided, and protected employees and the firm while taking advantage of the new value that personal technologies in business brought.
The mobile, social, original internet explosions taught us how to respond to and take advantage of customer-led disruption. We built mobile apps to help customers in their mobile moments of need; we adopted social media communications to improve engagement and collaboration; and we tooled up to take full advantage of the business models shaped by the internet.
Technology executives should prepare for generative AI to follow both paths and sprint into your business through four doors:
Bottom-up. Some of the 100 million people already using generative AI work for you. As you learned in the BYOD era, employees will adopt any tool that makes them more successful. The hyperadoption of gen AI leads to rampant BYOAI adoption. You can’t stop them, not fully. Your job is to put up guardrails that protect the firm’s IP and teach the skills of responsible AI. You need guardrails because your company IP is at risk. Just like with the original onslaught of BYO, you need to tune in now and empower, guide, and protect employees and the firm. Sharpen your listening tools and network sniffers. Revisit and promote your responsible AI policies ASAP. Your response to BYOAI will shape your top-down approach to gen AI, because employees will have elevated their robotics quotient and will be ready to go.
Top-down. Gen AI will unlock the value of 10-plus years of investments in data, insights, and artificial intelligence, including machine-learning models. This is where your investments in trusted AI will pay off, because you’re ready to use them. Already, the hyperscalers and software-as-a-service platform providers have announced and will trickle release gen AI-infused applications. Already, service providers and you are using TuringBots to generate and test code. Already, you’re incorporating marketing content generated from text prompts to hyperpersonalize engagement. And soon, you’ll overhaul your usability with text-based interfaces to business and analytics applications. Every part of your business will have ideas on how to use generative AI, mostly to optimize, automate, or augment something. Some will be great. Pick the ones that are easiest, safest, and most practical to deploy first.
Outside-in. Customers’ expectations for what gen AI can do for them are rising faster than anybody can keep up with. Every day, there is a new application using gen AI to do something useful. The latest I saw was a “free” cover-letter generator using GPT-4. (“Free” means that they’re accumulating your job preferences to resell as insights.) Microsoft triggered the search wars with OpenAI in Bing, and Google is now full-on engaged with Bard. Already, in the US, 35% of Gen Zers and 25% of Millennials have used bots to help buy hard-to-find inventory. That bot habit will be supercharged with gen AI, raising expectations even higher.....
Amir Husain
https://www.forbes.com/sites/amirhusain/2023/03/29/lahores-tech-renaissance-from-astrolabes-to-ai/?sh=edfd3c312c87
Amir Husain is the Founder & CEO of the global AI company, SparkCognition, and the CEO of SkyGrid.
Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)
Our first public event was at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), a prestigious institution renowned for its research and entrepreneurial spirit. Prof. Porter and I had the opportunity to deliver talks on entrepreneurship and artificial intelligence (AI) to an enthusiastic audience of students and faculty members.
Prof. Porter's talk focused on the three generations of AI, tracing its development from search algorithms to expert systems and the Generative AI explosion. The lecture provided insights into AI's potential to transform industries and our daily lives.
IoT, EVs, and Quantum, Oh My!
We encountered three standout teams pushing the boundaries of technology and innovation. The first was the quantum computing group at LUMS which has developed and indigenously built an experimental quantum information processor. I was told by Dean Anwar of the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE) that this device has two entangled physical qubits based on single photons from a heralded source. This effort lands LUMS on a short list of global quantum computing research organizations. Applications of quantum computing may eventually revolutionize materials science and much more. It was quite impressive to see a cutting-edge effort like this underway at the school.
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Aitchison College
Our next stop was my old alma mater, Aitchison College, a prestigious K-12 school founded in 1885. Boasting one of the world's most beautiful campuses on a sprawling 200 acres of land, the school has evolved from an elite institution to offering full-ride scholarships for applicants from diverse backgrounds.
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Entrepreneurs in Lahore
During our trip, we interacted with numerous entrepreneurs who have contributed significantly to Lahore's entrepreneurial ecosystem. Among them was the legendary Syed Babar Ali, founder of LUMS and Chairman of Packages Ltd. Babar Ali is one of the most admired Pakistanis globally. In his long list of laurels is his dedication to environmental conservation and a term as the President of the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), which he took over from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1996. His contributions to industry and education are immeasurable. At the young age of 97, he continues to work from his office daily, maintaining a hectic and full schedule. His unwavering dedication and passion are truly inspiring.
Bloomberg
Tech industry standout Nvidia gave another stunningly strong quarterly revenue forecast, fueled by surging demand for its AI processors in data centers. Faced with a surge in demand for chatbots and other tools, data center operators are stocking up on the company’s processors, which are adept at handling the heavy workloads required by artificial intelligence. That’s helped Nvidia quickly pull out of an industrywide chip slump and accelerate sales growth to its fastest rate in years.
Broader markets cheered the company’s good fortune. Stocks climbed the most since June while bond yields fell. A $200 billion exchange-traded fund tracking the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) gained after Nvidia’s bullish revenue outlook. Its shares jumped about 9% in extended trading. The highly anticipated results are expected to impact investment decisions over the next few months. Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial, says “there’s been an ongoing debate on whether Nvidia is even more important to the broad trajectory of markets than Fed Chair Powell’s comments from Jackson Hole on Friday.” —David E. Rovella
https://www.eurasiareview.com/13082023-pakistan-harnessing-artificial-intelligence-for-transformative-public-policy-and-administration-oped/
August 13, 2023 0 Comments
By Mir Hassan
Predicting the future is not magic, it is Artificial Intelligence. In recent years, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into various sectors has garnered significant attention.
Pakistan, like many other countries, has recognized the potential of AI to revolutionize public policy and administration. This article delves into the role of AI in shaping and enhancing public policy and administration in Pakistan, examining its benefits, challenges, and the path forward.
Benefits of AI in Public Policy and Administration:
Data-Driven Decision Making; AI facilitates data analysis on a scale impossible for humans alone. This enables evidence-based decision-making, leading to more efficient allocation of resources and targeted policy interventions. Predictive Analysis; AI algorithms can analyze historical data to predict future trends and challenges. In the context of Pakistan, this could aid in predicting disease outbreaks, managing disaster response, and optimizing infrastructure development.
Citizen Engagement; AI-powered chat bots and virtual assistants can streamline citizen engagement by providing real-time responses to queries and concerns. This fosters transparency, responsiveness, and accountability within the government.
Efficient Service Delivery; through automation and optimization, AI can streamline administrative processes, reducing bureaucracy and enhancing service delivery. This is particularly relevant for services like tax collection, licensing, and social welfare programs. Fraud Detection and Prevention; AI algorithms can identify patterns of fraudulent activities, helping to curb corruption and ensure efficient use of public funds.
Challenges and Considerations:
Data Quality and Privacy; AI relies heavily on data, and ensuring the quality, accuracy, and privacy of data is paramount. Pakistan must establish robust data protection regulations to safeguard citizen information.
Skill Gap; the successful implementation of AI requires a skilled workforce adept in AI technologies. Pakistan needs to invest in education and training to bridge the skill gap in this field.
Ethical Concerns; as AI systems make autonomous decisions, ethical considerations arise. Policymakers must grapple with questions of accountability, bias, and the potential for AI systems to amplify existing societal inequalities.
Infrastructure; Adequate technological infrastructure is essential for AI implementation. Ensuring reliable internet connectivity and access to advanced computing resources is crucial.
Policy Framework; Developing a comprehensive policy framework that outlines the ethical, legal, and operational aspects of AI adoption is imperative. Clear guidelines are needed to address issues such as liability, accountability, and regulatory oversight.
https://www.eurasiareview.com/13082023-pakistan-harnessing-artificial-intelligence-for-transformative-public-policy-and-administration-oped/
August 13, 2023 0 Comments
By Mir Hassan
The Way Forward:
To fully harness AI’s potential; Pakistan must adopt a multi-faceted approach:
Education and Research; Invest in AI education, research, and training to cultivate a skilled workforce capable of developing and implementing AI technologies. Public-Private Collaboration; Foster collaboration between the government, academia, and private sector to share expertise, resources, and best practices for AI integration. Regulatory Framework; Develop a regulatory framework that strikes a balance between encouraging innovation and addressing ethical, privacy, and security concerns. Pilot Projects; Initiate pilot AI projects in key sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, and education. These projects can serve as test beds for refining AI applications and identifying challenges. Awareness and Adoption; Raise awareness about AI’s potential among policymakers and the public, emphasizing its benefits and addressing misconceptions.
Artificial Intelligence has the potential to revolutionize public policy and administration in Pakistan, enhancing decision-making, service delivery, and citizen engagement. However, its successful integration requires careful consideration of challenges and a collaborative, forward-thinking approach. By embracing AI and fostering an ecosystem of innovation, Pakistan can pave the way for a more efficient, responsive and inclusive governance system.
Pakistan is one of the world's largest producers and suppliers of food and crops. The country's agriculture sector consists of four subsectors:
Food and fiber crops
Horticulture and orchards
Livestock and dairy
Fisheries and forestry
Pakistan's major crops include wheat, cotton, rice, sugarcane, and maize. These crops contribute around 4.9% to the country's total GDP.
Some of the top agriculture startups in Pakistan include: Pak Agri Market, ZD&K Farms, Radical Growth, Mohalla, Khalis Fertilizers.
Some of the top agritech startups in Pakistan include:
Tazah Technologies
Agriculture Republic Pakistan
Crop2X Private Limited
Fowrry Technologies Private Limited
zamindar
SUSTAINABLE AGRI IS
Startups in Pakistan are developing IoT solutions for smart irrigation, such as solar-powered tube wells, or for animal data, such as Cowlar, a solar-powered fitbit for cows.
Kai Ryssdal and Sofia Terenzio
Aug 30, 2023
https://www.marketplace.org/2023/08/30/why-arent-farmers-using-new-tech/
Agtech, short for agriculture technology, is a growing industry that’s using data tools and software to help farmers improve yields and use fewer resources.
With population growth increasing the global demand for food and climate change hurting crop yields, a swift adoption of agtech may be needed now more than ever. Yet, farmers are hesitant about embracing these new technologies.
What’s in the way of farmers quickly adopting agtech, and how can the industry get more farmers on board?
“Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal talked to reporter Belle Lin from the Wall Street Journal about her recent article on why so few farmers are using agtech. Below is an edited transcript of their conversation.
Kai Ryssdal: Could we have a quick primer, please? What is agtech?
Belle Lin: Absolutely. Agriculture technology, agtech is really the set of tools — both hardware and software — that enables farmers growers to really get the most out of their farming resources and inputs and up boosting their yields. So that’s really the goal of this kind of current wave of farm technology. But it’s really the kind of larger ecosystem software, hardware, robotics, tractors autonomous maybe that allow farmers to kind of do their work with greater efficiency.
Ryssdal: So two things that you said there one yield and current wave, we’ll get to the yield in a minute. But I want to talk about current wave, because as you pointed out, in this piece, it’s been a decade-ish, that that sort of the bigger picture, agtech thing has been a thing.
Lin: That’s right. So it’s about a decade since data analytics and what’s sometimes known as Big Data came around. So, these massive amounts of data that oftentimes companies collect, can also be collected on Americans farms, where some of the environments where the richest data is to be collected. You can collect it on almost every single specific piece of land on the soil itself on the seeds that are planted, where they’re planted down to the type of pesticide that is applied to a single weed where that weed is located. So you can understand, you know, how specific these things can get. And that’s related to this idea of precision agriculture, where all these like very specific inputs tailored to a specific farm, help a farmer to end up doing their work in a way that’s more informed by that data, and boosts their yields with fewer resources.
Ryssdal: Right, so to that yield thing, that’s the name of this whole game — it’s getting more stuff out of the ground per acre farmed than they did before. And there’s an amazing statistic in here it says, according to the Department of Agriculture in 2017, farmers using digital soil maps, which are part of this technology produced about 49% higher winter wheat yields than farmers who didn’t. Again, that’s USDA data. And yet, the thrust of this piece is that farmers almost have too much data and kind of know what to do with it.
Lin: Yeah, absolutely. So not only is there this kind of challenge of getting farmers to use these tools, but once they’ve used them, they face this kind of data paralysis, which is how a farmer described this to me, he’s farming corn and soybean. He feels like he’s collecting so much data on all these different parts of his farm, that he doesn’t know what to do with it. And so that’s a huge problem as well across sectors where, you know, big data, data analytics has promised to kind of deliver all these efficiencies and productivity gains. But oftentimes, what consumers and these farmers feel is that they don’t have that background to say, “OK, now that I know the moisture levels of all my soil, this is what I should do,” right.
Kai Ryssdal and Sofia Terenzio
Aug 30, 2023
https://www.marketplace.org/2023/08/30/why-arent-farmers-using-new-tech/
Lin: Yeah, absolutely. So not only is there this kind of challenge of getting farmers to use these tools, but once they’ve used them, they face this kind of data paralysis, which is how a farmer described this to me, he’s farming corn and soybean. He feels like he’s collecting so much data on all these different parts of his farm, that he doesn’t know what to do with it. And so that’s a huge problem as well across sectors where, you know, big data, data analytics has promised to kind of deliver all these efficiencies and productivity gains. But oftentimes, what consumers and these farmers feel is that they don’t have that background to say, “OK, now that I know the moisture levels of all my soil, this is what I should do,” right.
Ryssdal: I do not want to sound by any means ageist here, and apologies to the young farmers out there. But the average age of a farmer in this economy right now, as you point out is like 58.
Lin: Yeah, and that’s a big problem. Those folks are not as accustomed to utilizing technology to help inform their decisions.
Ryssdal: This is perhaps a little bit of field. But there’s an infrastructure part of this as well, right, in that a lot of almost all of this probably counts on connectivity and broadband. And I imagine if you’re out in in wherever you are on the Great Plains connectivity might be bad, you might not have service.
Lin: Yeah, that’s a great point. All of what we’re talking about in terms of agtech relies on having that internet connection, reliable way of streaming the data that you collect. And so connectivity is a major problem on farms that are far flung or not as connected to the internet speeds that people in cities are used to. And so one of the problems that farmers run into is that when they’re driving their equipment over a hill, for instance, you might have connectivity and one side of the hill, but you don’t on the other.
Ryssdal: Not to put a depressing punctuation mark on this conversation, but there are — I honestly can’t remember if it’s 8 or 9 billion people on this planet now — but there are going to be more in the future. And we have to feed them all. And this is part of the way we’re going to do it and adjust to climate change too, by the way.
Lin: Yeah, theoretically, farmers could boost their yields, and that would generate more food to feed the world’s growing and hungry population, and also in a way that they’re using fewer resources. So that’s the promise of it all, but right now it’s falling a bit short.