#91 Choosing Between Ethics and Innovation
A Perplexing Choice; India's Electric Vehicle Vision — Ambition Meets Reality
Today, Bharath Reddy writes on the recent criticism of Perplexity AI’s web-scraping activities. Then, Arindam Goswami comments on the Indian government’s ambitious plan to replace conventional vehicles with electric ones by 2034.
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Cyberpolitik: A Perplexing Choice
— Bharath Reddy
“Like Clearview, Perplexity’s core innovation is ethical rather than technical. In the recent past, it would have been considered bad form to steal and repurpose journalism at scale. Perplexity is making a bet that the advent of generative AI has somehow changed the moral calculus to its benefit.”
“So that’s Perplexity’s real innovation here: shattering the foundations of trust that built the internet. The question is if any of its users or investors care.”
These are some strong criticisms of Perplexity by Casey Newton in The Platformer and Elizabeth Lopatto in The Verge. Perplexity is a competitor to Google and calls itself a conversational “answer engine”. It leverages advanced language models such as OpenAI’s chatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude to provide answers to user queries.
Image credits: The Verge
By providing answers to queries, tools like Perplexity reduce the need for users to visit the primary source, which seriously impacts news media and denies them an opportunity to earn ad revenue. This shift from search engine to answer engine is not unique to Perplexity – Bing and Google are also doing similar things. These threats exist even if these answer engines cite sources that were used to arrive at the answer.
However, Perplexity is criticised for ignoring the robots.txt file—a plain text file used by websites to instruct web robots on how to crawl and index their pages. Forbes has claimed that in response to some answers, Perplexity has lifted some of its paywalled content verbatim and has not even cited Forbes as a source for the answers it provided. This paywalled content is not supposed to be crawled and indexed by web robots, but it works more as a good-faith code.
Aravind Srinivas, Perplexity's CEO, clarified that Perplexity was not ignoring robots.txt; it was using third-party scrapers that ignored it. Access to this proprietary data provides Perplexity with some of the capabilities of an answer engine. They have not stated that they will discontinue partnering with the third-party scraper.
News companies have been facing an existential crisis. The advent of answer engines and unscrupulous scraping is yet another challenge for an industry that is already struggling to cope with digital platforms threatening its primary source of revenue—advertising.
There are two ways we see this playing out in the recent past. The New York Times has recently sued OpenAI for copyright infringement over the unauthorised use of published work to train AI. On the other hand, OpenAI has also signed a deal to use content from the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, the Times and the Sunday Times on its platform.
As a new technology, such answer engines have flaws and limitations but undoubtedly increase productivity. Regulatory frameworks and legislation usually lag technology, and companies like Perplexity operate in some of these grey areas to build their products. While some regulatory certainty has yet to arrive, countries like Japan have allowed the use of copyrighted content for training AI. News companies will have to figure out innovative business models to deal with these existential challenges because the question is not just about Perplexity caring about this but also what users want and what investors are willing to back.
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Technomachy: India's Electric Vehicle Vision — Ambition Meets Reality
— Arindam Goswami
Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari recently announced the Indian government's ambitious plan to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2034, replacing them with electric vehicles (EVs). While this goal is commendable for its environmental intentions, carefully considering the broader implications of such a drastic transition is essential. Without careful planning, this policy could have multiple unintended consequences.
The Real Emissions Picture of EVs
EVs are often celebrated for their potential to eliminate tailpipe emissions, enhance urban air quality, and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. The promise of cleaner cities with reduced smog and lower greenhouse gas emissions is certainly attractive. However, a deeper examination reveals a more complicated scenario. The hidden carbon footprint of EVs, insufficient renewable energy infrastructure, the strain on our power grid, and economic and geopolitical impacts present a sobering reality.
Though EVs do not directly emit carbon dioxide, the electricity needed to charge them frequently comes from coal-based power plants, which are significant carbon emitters. For instance, an analysis of the Tata Nexon EV revealed that the electricity required to charge it could necessitate 2.5 times more coal than the petrol or diesel needed to travel the same distance, potentially increasing overall carbon emissions.
The production and disposal of EV batteries also contribute to their hidden carbon footprint. Lithium, cobalt, and nickel extraction and processing—key components of lithium-ion batteries—are energy-intensive and have significant environmental impacts. Mining activities can lead to habitat destruction, water shortages, and pollution. Furthermore, battery manufacturing processes emit substantial amounts of CO2. At the end of their lifecycle, the disposal or recycling of batteries poses additional environmental challenges, as improper handling can lead to soil and water contamination from toxic substances.
It's not all bad though..
Electric vehicles (EVs) have higher emissions during production due to battery manufacturing but produce significantly fewer emissions over their lifetime compared to internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), especially in regions with substantial renewable energy. EVs also improve urban air quality by eliminating tailpipe emissions, benefiting public health.
A well-to-wheel analysis indicates that EVs typically offer lower emissions than ICEVs, with the reduction varying based on the region's energy sources. As the share of renewable energy increases in electricity grids worldwide, the emissions associated with EVs will continue to decrease.
But… Is India Ready for Widespread EV Adoption?
Advocates of EVs argue that these vehicles produce fewer emissions over their lifetime than internal combustion engines, especially in regions with substantial renewable energy. However, India's energy landscape paints a different picture. Despite notable progress in renewable energy, with solar and wind contributing 19% and 10%, respectively, to our total installed capacity, their intermittent nature means they cannot consistently meet EV charging demands, which often occur overnight.
Without significant advancements in energy storage solutions, the reliance on renewables alone cannot ensure a stable supply for widespread EV adoption. Consequently, we will likely depend more on coal-based power, which currently accounts for about 76% of our electricity.
Achieving an all-EV future by 2034 presents a monumental challenge for India's power infrastructure. Doubling our power generation capacity seems unlikely, given our current progress. Over the past nine years, we have only added 139.62 GW. Expecting to add nearly four times that amount in just eight years is unrealistic. Furthermore, our already overburdened power grid will require extensive upgrades, including doubling the number of transformers, feeders, and transmission lines to prevent frequent power outages, especially in major cities.
The economic and geopolitical ramifications of this transition are also concerning. While reducing reliance on crude oil imports is a valid objective, we must consider our significant coal imports. Shifting to EVs will not eliminate our import dependency but will shift it from oil to coal and other critical resources like lithium for batteries. This shift introduces new strategic risks, particularly given our tense relations with China, a major supplier of these critical minerals.
Consumer interest in EVs is currently driven by substantial subsidies, which obscure the true costs. Some EV models receive significant financial support compared to heavily taxed petrol vehicles. While these subsidies have jump-started the EV market, they are unsustainable in the long run and distort the true economic picture of EV adoption.
Alternative Strategies for Transition
Given these complexities, a more pragmatic approach is needed. Promoting hybrid vehicles as a transitional solution could offer better fuel efficiency and lower emissions without requiring extensive infrastructure overhauls. Reducing taxes on hybrids could make them more attractive to consumers without the need for substantial subsidies.
Additionally, we should learn from the experiences of larger economies that have the luxury of experimenting and absorbing financial losses. Rushing our policy would be unwise until we enhance our innovation capacity and industrial capabilities.
Though well-intentioned, India's push for EVs demands a more nuanced and realistic strategy. Balancing the need to reduce carbon emissions with the practical challenges of energy production, infrastructure readiness, and economic viability is crucial. A hasty transition to EVs could result in power shortages, increased carbon emissions, and significant financial losses.
What We're Reading (or Listening to)
[Podcast] India’s Small Arms Woes ft. Satya Sahu and Aditya Ramanathan [All Things Policy]
[Opinion] Drones are changing warfare. India needs to move fast, by Aditya Ramanathan
[Newsletter Post] The Promises and Perils of Quad, by Vanshika Saraf [Quad Bulletin]
[Takshashila Blog] Interactive: Mapping the Flow of Climate Finance in 2021, by Rakshith Shetty