AI’s vanity problem - The HinduBusinessLine

AI’s vanity problem - The HinduBusinessLine
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SENSEX 77,537.72
+ 628.04
NIFTY 24,231.85
+ 153.55
CRUDEOIL 8,299.00
+ 148.00
GOLD 159,425.00
+ 1,429.00
SILVER 243,200.00
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SENSEX 77,537.72
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NIFTY 24,231.85
+ 153.55
NIFTY 24,231.85
+ 153.55
CRUDEOIL 8,299.00
+ 148.00
CRUDEOIL 8,299.00
+ 148.00
GOLD 159,425.00
+ 1,429.00
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AI’s vanity problem
Why India must focus on playing to its strengths
By M Muneer
Updated - August 21, 2026 at 06:15 AM.
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https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/ais-vanity-problem/article71370319.ece
AI: India must leverage its strengths
| Photo Credit:
iStockphoto
Self-proclaimed AI experts urged GOI to act decisively to avert a crisis: “We are not high enough on the AI value chain, and we need to act quickly.” Apparently, while Silicon Valley and China are building the future, India is sitting in the basement, labelling images, cleaning datasets and teaching machines the difference between a cow and a buffalo.
The remedy, predictably, is that India must “move up the value chain”. This phrase is the typical one CEOs use at strategy meetings and make everyone feels more intelligent. But perhaps India should pause before climbing a ladder whose top rung may disappear tomorrow. What if the data layer isn’t the bottom of the AI value chain at all? What if it is the foundation?
We have an unfortunate habit of confusing intellectual glamour with economic value. For decades, India Inc was told services were inferior because somebody else owned the intellectual property. Then products became superior to services. Then platforms became superior to products. Now foundation models are the new Holy Grail.
Shifting ladder
Every generation invents a new rung and our strategy promptly starts climbing it. The danger is that by the time we