Can AI harness true artistic creativity; New frontiers in indigenous AI development

Hello,

Another day, another rush of tariff anxiety. 

The global economy is about to get more clarity on Wednesday when the 90-day reprieve from US President Trump’s ‘reciprocal’ levies ends. 

It’s going to be a busy 72 hours for major US trading partners, who are rushing to secure trade deals or buy time before the administration unveils new tariff levels on shipments. 

According to Treasury Secretary Bessent, several big trade deals are close to reaching agreements, though countries receiving letters will see their exports face the most extreme US tariffs, some as high as 50%  starting August 1 if they don’t make a deal.

Global investors, on the other hand, are heading into the week unexcited and prepared for a range of benign scenarios that they believe are already priced in. Largely, the anticipation is that Trump will not be able to complete deals with all of America’s trading partners in the coming week.

Another space is bearing the brunt of recent economic uncertainty: snacks. US consumers are reigning in their sweet tooth–and their snack budgets–as price rises pinch their wallets.

There’s a new development in the food delivery segment back home as well. Zomato parent Eternal has appointed Aditya Mangla as the CEO of its food delivery business, replacing Rakesh Ranjan. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Can AI harness true artistic creativity?
• New frontiers in indigenous AI development

Here’s your trivia for today: Which failed Google experiment allowed users to create their own personalised homepages with widgets and news feeds but was shut down in 2013?

Artificial Intelligence

Can AI harness true artistic creativity?

In addition to decades of hard work, German pianist Ludwig van Beethoven’s brilliance lay in his ability to imagine each instrumental layer without ever hearing it physically. However, Symphony No. 10, one of Beethoven’s penultimate works, remains unfinished to date. 

In early 2019, Dr Matthias Röder, an award-winning music and technology strategist, gathered a team of music experts from all around the world to create an AI tool that would complete this unfinished melody. But is AI capable of creating great music that emerged from such a struggle, and can machines truly ever be creative? 

Enhancing human creativity:

• AI tools can take over technical grunt work in the studio, freeing artists up to concentrate on inspiration and storytelling. Yet it is only one part of the creative process, artists believe, since AI cannot recreate the emotion, nuances and individuality of how a person plays or sings. 
• There are projects delving into bringing AI into the front of the creative process: Studio Blo created a virtual pop singer named AISHAN, whose voice, musicality, compositions, and final recordings are AI-generated. The Collective Artists Network is also leveraging AI-driven characters for storytelling.
• The intersection of technology and art has now fuelled intense legal debate across the industry. Many artists and content owners are pushing back against AI models that were trained on their work without permission.

Artificial Intelligence

New frontiers in indigenous AI development

Artificial intelligence is the “most transformative” technology of our lifetime, concur renowned leaders from the field of technology. However, AI innovation also comes with challenges and constraints, as India tries to build indigenous solutions, they add. 

At a recent discussion in Bengaluru, AI leaders Srinivas Narayanan, VP of Engineering at OpenAI; Aparna Chennapragada, Chief Product Officer - Experiences & Devices at Microsoft; and Prof Balaram Ravindran, Head, Wadhwani School of Data Science & AI IIT Madras; shared their views on the current AI landscape and the road ahead for the technology in India.

India as an innovation hub: 

• OpenAI’s Narayanan stated that India is one of OpenAI’s second-largest markets globally, indicating the country’s major adoption of its solutions across sectors. The firm crossed 500 million weekly active users as of March, mainly driven by the adoption of its AI chatbot and ChatGPT’s new image generation feature.
• While previous technology shifts, such as the internet and the mobile phone, played out over decades, the AI wave is condensing that period into months, believes Microsoft’s Chennapragada. She also weighed in on the new paradigm where AI can not only assist in building products but can actually generate them. 
• The experts agreed that India is both an important market and an innovation hub, despite facing significant development challenges. Narayanan, in particular, welcomed the idea of building indigenous models in the country.

Bharat ke Innovators

Engineering independence on wheels

Founded in 2018 and anchored at the IIT Madras Research Park, Yali’s flagship product is a drive-from-wheelchair electric vehicle that requires no transfers, featuring a remotely controlled kneeling platform and retractable ramp, and a patented docking system that secures the wheelchair within seconds.

News & updates

• Petition: Leaders of the BRICS group of developing nations will call for protections against the unauthorised use of artificial intelligence (AI) to avoid excessive data collection and allow mechanisms for fair payment. The bloc is dedicating part of its discussions on Sunday to AI during a two-day summit in Rio de Janeiro.
• Oil hike: Saudi Arabia raised prices for its main crude grade for buyers in Asia next month by more than its customers had been expecting, a sign Riyadh is confident the market is strong enough to withstand extra supplies that OPEC+ is adding.

What you should watch out for

• Tariff developments: Globally, the most important factor that investors will be watching for will be Trump’s action after the 90-day pause on significant reciprocal tariff rates for all trade partners comes to an end on Wednesday. Further, any revision in tariff rates, the fixing of baseline rates, and announcements regarding the conclusion of trade deals by the United States with various partners will be of interest.
• Oil price movements: Further, the focus will also be on oil prices, which remain favourable for net importers like India, especially after the OPEC+ meeting concluded over the last weekend, and ahead of Trump’s fresh action on tariff rates next week.

Which failed Google experiment allowed users to create their own personalized homepages with widgets and news feeds but was shut down in 2013?

Answer: iGoogle

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