Content :

1. Understanding the Changing Face of Extremist Violence
2. Democratising AI needs a radically different approach
3. Urgent deadline

Understanding the Changing Face of Extremist Violence

Relevance: GS 3 (Internal Security )

Practice Question: Explain the growing internal security challenges amid the Russia-Ukraine war. Suggest key measures to counter militancy tendencies. (250 words)

Context: Three years of the Russia-Ukraine war have overshadowed other kinds of violence, especially by extremist groups.

RAND STUDY:

• Title: “Changing Face of Hate: Domestic Extremist Violence”
• The study had special relevance for the U.S., but it also had lessons for other countries.
• There are constant and important changes among extremist groups.
• The RAND study also opined that law enforcement agencies need to understand the nature of these changes to be prepared for the future.

India’s Post-Independence Challenges:

• India witnessed communal violence and communist movements in the initial years.
• The Tebhaga Movement and the Telangana Uprising were notable but unsuccessful.

20th Century:

• Naxalite Movement: Intended for a left-wing rebirth, it turned into huge violence.
  • During their peak, they had a sizeable influence in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala.

Right-Wing Spread:

• Many countries in Europe are becoming increasingly xenophobic (dislike for people from other countries), for instance, Germany.
• Uncertainty about the right wing’s influence in French politics has damaged France’s image as a “middle-of-the-road nation.”
• The Brexit referendum of 2016 (in the United Kingdom) was an early indicator of a political shift toward the right.

Right-Wing Extremism in the West:

• The post-2001 period saw a rise in right-wing extremist sympathisers in the West.
• Misinformation and the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated right-wing extremism.

Law Enforcement’s Role:

• Law and order agencies need to focus on the rising threat of terror modules.
• There were protests in India regarding actions taken against extremist bodies.
• Understanding right-wing tendencies among various societal sections is crucial.

Democratising AI Needs a Radically Different Approach

Relevance: GS 3 (Science and Technology)

Practice Question: Explain the impacts of biased AI, especially dominated by big firms. Suggest possible ways to make AI more democratic. (250 words)

Big Tech’s Dominance:

• Big Tech’s influence over AI is a concern for global policymakers.
• Efforts by India and other countries to invest in sovereign cloud infrastructure and support local start-ups may inadvertently reinforce Big Tech’s dominance.

Challenges:

• High Costs: Building deep learning models is expensive, making it hard for smaller players to compete. Big Tech companies push for deep learning, benefiting from its high costs.
• Public Compute Infrastructure: Proposals to invest in public compute infrastructure must be competitive with Big Tech offerings, which include comprehensive developer tools and access to the latest models.
• Data Monopoly: Big Tech’s continuous data stream across various domains gives them a significant competitive edge. Public data initiatives often fall short due to commercial capture.

Shift to Deep Learning:

• Commercial firms, especially Big Tech, dominate AI research and academia’s role is diminishing.

Proposed Approach:

• Theory of Change: Advocates a different AI development model focused on understanding causal mechanisms and developing hypotheses for change.
• Domain Expertise: Emphasises the importance of domain expertise and lived experience over Big Data alone.
• Small AI: Champions smaller, purpose-driven models for more democratic and effective AI development.

Historical Context:

• Significant advancements in other fields relied on theory-driven models rather than sheer volumes of data. The current obsession with “bigger is better” has deviated from this approach.

Call for Change:

• Urges a shift away from viewing Big Data and deep learning as the ultimate solutions.
• Criticises the Global Development Compact for falling into the same trap of assuming large data sets and computational power will address Big Tech monopolies and achieve Sustainable Development Goals.

Urgent Deadline

Relevance: GS 2 (Social Justice ), GS 3(Environment )

Practice Question: Explain the interrelation between poverty and climate change. Discuss the role of the Global South in the climate change-poverty battle. (250 words)

• Focus on Poverty and Climate Justice: The summit aimed to address global hunger and poverty and promote climate justice.
• Brazilian President’s Proposal: Lula Da Silva suggested taxing the ‘super-rich’ with a 2% wealth tax to generate significant revenue ($200 billion), but the G-20 declaration did not adopt this measure.
• India’s Standpoint: The Prime Minister emphasised that global issues impact the ‘Global South’ most, advocating for greater representation in global administration by countries representing the majority of the world’s population.

Outcomes and Challenges

• G-20 Declarations: The declaration expressed concerns over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza but lacked concrete measures to end the conflicts, particularly with the ongoing Israel-Gaza and Russia-Ukraine conflicts.
• Diluted Focus: The summit’s timing, overlapping with other geopolitical crises, diluted its focus on poverty and climate change.
• COP29 Influence: The G-20 was timed closely with COP29, indicating an attempt to align climate issues between the two forums, but geopolitical tensions overshadowed these efforts.

Implications

• Geopolitical Tensions: The polarisation due to the Israel-Hamas conflict and the Russia-Ukraine war made consensus difficult, weakening the effectiveness of the G-20 declaration.
• Climate Justice: There is a pressing need for developed nations, especially the U.S., to commit more significantly to climate action. Given potential future U.S. leadership, particularly under Donald Trump, there may be less emphasis on climate policies, which is worrying for the Global South.

Moving Forward

• Global South’s Role: The next G-20 summit in South Africa and subsequent summits need to build on the concerns of the developing world and set clear, actionable paths for tackling poverty, hunger, and climate change.
• Urgent Action Required: As the G-20 will return to the U.S. in 2026, there is an urgent need for the Global South to ensure their priorities are not sidelined and that substantial progress is made in the interim