Since the past 20 years, Google has been monopolising the Internet. It has become so indispensable that no one can function without it. Google has a stronghold on nearly all aspects of life like everyday business, jobs, academics, research, roads, GPS, etc. Thanks to which it has earned billions of dollars. According to an estimate, the company has nearly 50 billion dollars in reserve. Yet people feel that Google has become smug and complacent. They say that it does perform a bit of work where certain self driven aspects of life are concerned but has lost its edge. Now they have suddenly woken up because they have realized that something has emerged to challenge them. Yes. Yes, ChatGPT has driven them crazy. (Furthermore, one can only imagine where new inventions like perplexity AI etc will take us.)
In the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) they have started whipping their horses but the damage that was to be done has already been done. Google, the very engine which provides real-time information, is behind the clock. It announced BARD, which is not really perfect. Experts say it has its bugs. On 8 February 2023, it's parent company Alphabet had to endure a massive $100 billion loss in their market value on the stock market due to one of it's mistake. So Paul Busheeit, the creator of Gmail, prophesies that Google will probably be wiped out in a year or two. AI will override its search engine results. The sensational events of the past few days have taught us many things.
Firstly, if one gets a lot of wealth, prosperity or success or power, one should be wary of becoming smug, inactive or complacent. Any kingdom can perish within a small matter of time. As happened in Turkey-Syria, within a few seconds thousands of buildings came down like a pack of a cards. No superpower or money in the whole world can stop this from happening. The same can be learnt from the Hindenburg case. It may take a long time to recover from it. It has been learnt by people that Dubai's billionaire BR Shetty became bankrupt within a few days.
Secondly, one should realise that only change is permanent at any point of time. So one must learn to recognize and implement change. If you can't see the change, you should make preparation to run your horse in a race instead of a war. And if you still can't think about it, then finally there is always the horse-drawn carriage, and if that too doesn't happen, then thanks to your laziness, it's time for the horse to bite the bullet.
The third thing that we observe is that we should be very patient. At least on the outside one should keep calm. Like a swan swimming in the water, while one has to be silent above, one still has to keep moving one's feet under the water. All this can be done if one truly wishes to. One who lives according to these three principles will have no problems whatsoever. N Chandrasekaran is the new chairman of the Tata company, which is like an empire having the size of a major superpower. It is 156 years old, selling goods in 150 countries, having offices in 100 countries and supporting one million families, Tata is no ordinary company. Chandrasekaran has not got complacent with all this. He has taken hold of its reins very intelligently, while remaining very patient and accepting of change. Due to his smart business acumen, Tata's reputation and fortune began to grow. According to him, Tata Group's growth will be 20 percent in 2022-23.
At this point, Mahant Swami Maharaj easily comes to mind. He always says that Pramukh Swami Maharaj has left only garlands of flowers (accolades) for me. Everything is readymade and I have nothing left to do. Of course, this is his feelings of servitude towards the Guru. In fact, after reaching the height of 40,000 ft, the engines of the plane are not shut off, the pilot does not go to sleep or the windows and doors are not opened. Even after reaching this height, the engine is still running. No windows and doors are open. Pilots are also alert. Even at the very old age of 90 years, Swamiji is still awake and working continuously. Everyone said that after the construction of Akshardham in New Jersey, there will be no such huge project as Akshardham. But he has decided very firmly that he wants to construct another Akshardham at Surat. One can never see him get caught up in a comfort zone. His willingness to innovate and adapt to new things can put any youth the youth to shame. Especially, in front of his profound, majestic and divine personality, words like calm, healthy and stable seem very small.
In short, this is life. One needs to be alert before everything is lost. Now no one's monopoly will last for a long time. It wasn't the norm earlier and neither will it be in the future
Thanks Giving
This article is written and submitted to The E Today by Sadhu Amrutvadandas. We thank swamiji for his research and analysis and hope to see the awareness about life and peace being spread ahead to larger mass of our citizens