Google or Ogle

I’m over the Hill! I’m from the Morris Minor’s generation or Hillman Minx’s. The fast moving IT industry has left me far behind. Their (IT) latest cousin, Artificial Intelligence (AI), has caught the attention of the whole world – tech giants, investors, legislators, politicians, military Inc, and chess players (goodbye, Kasparov). Google Inc. (the company) started out assembling data knowledge; very commendable knowledge has always been “the thing”.

In the last 4 to 5 centuries, knowledge used to reside in the famous libraries. The big ones – the Royal Danish Library, The National Library of China, the Royal Library of France, the Egyptian Library of Alexandria. And of course, the Library of US Congress – the ultimate data collector many years ago. When my network was still operative, I suggested to a US legislator that the following sign should be enshrined outside the main gate of the Congress Library: “THE WRITTEN WORD OF THE SCHOLAR IS MORE SACRED THAN THE BLOOD OF THE MARTYR”.

Google prospered data poured in. But some organisations do not yield their secrets. Can Google tell us?

• What is the net worth of the Hamid Karzai family (of Afghanistan)?

Can Google tell us the most vexing secret in American politics? About J. Edgar Hoover, who was for 40 years the untouchable Director of FBI, where did he hide the secrets he had on all American politicians? If this treasure-trove is found, it could be auctioned at Sotheby’s - starting bid $25 billion.

Data is King. The King of DATA is Lorry Ellison of Oracle. After the recent advent of AI, Lorry is in full throttle. I am given to understand that Lorry is a tough cookie. He plays hard ball. His phrase has become part of the management lexicon: “I had all the disadvantages of success”. An old employee of Oracle tells me that Lorry only likes the living environment in the USA or Japan. Perhaps one could show him the Hunza Valley!

YouTube has its own appeal [the Ogle side]. It is freewheeling, Hot and spicy.

A long time ago (2007), I was in Mumbai for a conference. At that time Bollywood boasted about 50 megastars (actors) and 20,000 extras. The extras used to wait for auditions, small parts with YouTube available they can all make big time. Luck favours the bold.

The ‘Ogle’ side has a big customer base. The menu on offer is unlimited – however there is no price column on the right side. Bathrooms with steamy showers, village girl bathing in the stream, airhostess smuggling currency, unending ‘Mujras’ in the bad lands of Pakistan with money (dollars, rupees, Afghanis) been thrown around. In Monte Carlo, girls exiting their luxury cars, romances unravelling and new romances being cemented. As Maurice Chevalier once said, “WOE IS ME, SHAME AND SCANDAL IN THE FAMILY”.

(The writer is a former Executive Director of the Management Association

of Pakistan)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024