Categories
Business

Durgapur’s “Airport City” Dream Takes Shape as IABA Housing Unveils “Ashavari Estate”

DURGAPUR, WEST BENGAL — The industrial heartland of West Bengal is witnessing a quiet real estate revolution, and it is happening right next to the runway. IABA Housing Private Limited, a joint venture involving Singapore-based IDLC Housing and Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd (BAPL), has accelerated development on its flagship residential project, Ashavari Estate.

Located within the ambitious “Sujalam Skycity” near the Andal Airport, the project promises to bring metropolitan luxury to a Tier-2 city. With 2BHK units starting at ₹35.10 Lakhs, IABA Housing is aggressively targeting the rising middle class of the Asansol-Durgapur belt who are looking for lifestyle upgrades beyond the crowded city centers.

“The Singapore Connection” Unlike typical local developments, IABA Housing claims a unique lineage. It is backed by InfraCo Asia (a Singapore-based infrastructure development company) and Equicap Asia, giving the project a layer of international credibility rarely seen in regional markets. The design, helmed by the renowned Gian P. Mathur & Associates (GPMA), focuses on a “low density” living concept—dedicating 80% of the 11.19-acre land to open green spaces.

A City Within a City The project is not just selling apartments; it is selling an ecosystem. “We are building for the future of the Aerotropolis,” a company spokesperson noted. The estate features a massive clubhouse, a “skywalk cafe,” and the largest swimming pool in any residential project in Durgapur.

With Phase I and Phase II already registered under WBRERA, the developer is pushing for timely delivery, aiming to capitalize on the operational expansion of the Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport. For homebuyers in West Bengal, IABA Housing represents a shift from traditional “plot-buying” to modern, gated community living.

WEBSITE ANALYSIS: iabahousing.com

Website Verdict: ✅ LEGITIMATE & TRANSPARENT

After a thorough review of https://iabahousing.com/, here is a breakdown of the user experience, credibility, and red flags.

1. First Impressions & UI/UX

  • Design: The website is clean, modern, and mobile-responsive. It uses high-quality renders and follows a “single-page application” feel where most critical info (Amenities, Plans, Contact) is accessible via scrolling or a sticky header.
  • Speed: The site loads relatively fast but is heavy on images (renders of the clubhouse and interiors).
  • Navigation: Simple and intuitive. The “Download Brochure” and “Enquire Now” buttons are prominent but not overly intrusive.

2. Content & Transparency (The “Trust” Factors)

  • RERA Registration: This is the biggest green flag. The website explicitly lists its WBRERA numbers for both phases:
    • Phase I: WBRERA/P/PAS/2023/000006
    • Phase II: WBRERA/P/PAS/2024/001203
    • Analysis: Scam sites almost never provide valid RERA IDs.
  • Pricing: Unlike many developers who hide prices behind “Call for Price,” IABA openly lists the starting price (₹35.10 Lacs). This suggests confidence in their value proposition.
  • Bank Partners: They display logos of major lending partners (SBI, HDFC, PNB, ICICI). This indicates that the project has been “Approved” (APF) by these banks, meaning the legal due diligence of the land has likely been cleared.

3. Project Details

  • Floor Plans: Detailed 2D and 3D layouts are available for 2BHK, 3BHK, and 4BHK units. Sizes range from a compact 870 sq. ft. to a spacious 1818 sq. ft.
  • Amenities: The list is extensive and specific (e.g., “Jaltarang” Swimming Pool, “Akashbitan” Skywalk Cafe). They are branding their amenities with Bengali names, adding a nice cultural touch for the local audience.

4. Red Flags / Areas of Caution

  • Single Project Focus: The website is currently dedicated entirely to “Ashavari Estate.” There is little information about past completed projects, which is typical for a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) or a new JV entity. Buyers are betting on the partners’ reputation rather than the company’s own track record.
  • Location: “Sujalam Skycity” (Andal Airport area) is still a developing zone. It is not in the heart of Durgapur city. The website glosses over the distance to the main city center, focusing instead on the “future potential” of the airport city.

5. Contact & Support

  • Physical Presence: They list a physical corporate office in City Centre, Durgapur (Pushpanjali Building) and a site office in Andal.
  • Digital Channels: Active email ([email protected]) and phone support are visible.
Categories
Automobile World

The Beast from the East: Inside the Rolling Fortress of Vladimir Putin

When the President of the United States travels, he brings “The Beast.” For decades, this Cadillac has been the gold standard of armored luxury. But in 2018, a new challenger emerged from the gates of the Kremlin, roaring with a 600-horsepower hybrid engine and carrying the pride of a nation.

This is the story of the Aurus Senat—Vladimir Putin’s answer to Western luxury, a car that is part Rolls-Royce, part tank, and entirely Russian.

Chapter 1: Ending the Mercedes Era

For years, Soviet and Russian leaders had a shameful secret: they preferred German engineering. Even at the height of the Cold War, while publicly denouncing the West, the Kremlin elite were often chauffeured in Mercedes-Benz S-Class limousines. It was a subtle admission that domestic cars (like the old ZIL limos) just couldn’t compete.

In 2012, Vladimir Putin decided enough was enough. He initiated “Project Kortezh” (Project Cortege). The mandate was simple but ambitious: build a car from scratch that is 100% made in Russia, safer than a tank, and luxurious enough to rival a Rolls-Royce Phantom.

Billions of rubles were poured into the State Research Center of the Russian Federation (NAMI). Six years later, the Aurus Senat was born.

Chapter 2: The “Aurus” (Gold of Russia)

The name itself is a power play. “Aurus” is a combination of Aurum (Latin for Gold) and Rus (Russia).

Visually, the car is a monolith. It weighs a staggering 7 tons and stretches over 21 feet long. With its massive vertical grille and rectangular headlights, critics instantly pointed out its resemblance to the Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII. But underneath the skin, it is a war machine.

  • The Engine: A 4.4-liter V8 twin-turbo hybrid engine developed in collaboration with Porsche Engineering, producing 598 horsepower. It can move this 7-ton mountain from 0 to 100 km/h in just 6 seconds.

Chapter 3: The Bunker on Wheels

While the leather seats and wood trim are impressive, the real story lies in what you can’t see. The Aurus Senat is designed to survive a war zone.

  • Bomb Proof: The chassis is reinforced to withstand landmine explosions and sniper fire from high-caliber weapons.
  • Chemical Warfare Ready: Like the US “Beast,” the Aurus can seal itself hermetically. It has its own internal oxygen supply to protect the President in case of a chemical or biological attack.
  • The “Swimming” Myth: Rumors persist that the car can stay submerged underwater while keeping the cabin dry, essentially turning into a submarine for short periods, though the Kremlin has never officially confirmed this capability.
  • VR10 Protection: This is the highest level of ballistic protection available for civilian vehicles. The glass alone is several inches thick.

Chapter 4: Diplomacy by Dashboard

The Aurus isn’t just a car; it is a diplomatic tool. Putin is so proud of the vehicle that he uses it to woo potential allies.

In 2024, in a highly publicized move, Putin gifted a customized Aurus Senat to Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea. It was a symbolic gesture—breaking UN sanctions to give a piece of Russian “Gold” to a strategic partner. He has also been seen giving driving tours to leaders from the Middle East and Egypt, using the car as a showroom for Russian industrial might.

Summary

The Aurus Senat is more than just transport. It is a declaration of independence. It signals that Russia no longer needs German cars to ferry its leaders. It is a 7-ton, bomb-proof statement that rolls down the streets of Moscow, reminding the world that the Kremlin has built its own Beast.

Categories
Social Media

End of the “Ghost Number” Era: DoT Mandates Active SIM Linking for WhatsApp and Telegram

NEW DELHI — The days of using WhatsApp or Telegram on a phone without its original SIM card are numbered. In a sweeping move to crack down on cyber fraud, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued a strict directive: No active SIM, no messaging app.

This new rule, part of the Telecommunication Cybersecurity Amendment Rules, 2025, targets a massive loophole used by scammers—the ability to operate accounts using virtual numbers or SIM cards that have long been discarded.

The Core Mandate: “SIM Binding”

For years, the setup was simple: put in a SIM, get an OTP, and your WhatsApp account is live. You could then remove the SIM, throw it away, or even leave the country, and the app would keep working on Wi-Fi.

This convenience has now become a security nightmare. Scammers sitting outside India have been using local numbers to orchestrate “digital arrests” and financial fraud without any physical trace.

To stop this, the DoT has ordered all “Telecommunication Identifier User Entities” (TIUEs)—which includes WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, and Snapchat—to enforce “SIM Binding.”

  • The New Reality: The app must continuously verify that the SIM card used for registration is physically present in the device. If you remove the SIM, the app stops working.

The 6-Hour Web Logout Rule

The crackdown doesn’t stop at mobile phones. The desktop experience is about to get much more rigorous.

Under the new norms, web versions of these apps (like WhatsApp Web) cannot stay logged in indefinitely. The government has mandated a periodic auto-logout every six hours.

This means if you use WhatsApp on your office laptop, you will likely need to scan a QR code to re-authenticate twice a day. While this adds friction for users, officials argue it is necessary to prevent unauthorized access to unattended sessions, a common vector for data theft.

The Timeline: 90 Days to Comply

The clock is already ticking. The DoT issued these directions on November 28, 2025, giving tech giants a 90-day window to re-engineer their systems. This implies that by February 2026, the new architecture must be live.

Companies must also submit a full compliance report within 120 days. Failure to adhere to these norms could attract severe penalties under the Telecommunications Act, 2023.

Impact on the Common User

While the move is hailed as a masterstroke against cybercrime, it brings significant changes for regular users:

  • International Travelers: You can no longer simply swap your Indian SIM for a local travel SIM and keep using your Indian WhatsApp number seamlessly. The app may require the Indian SIM to remain active in the slot.
  • Secondary Devices: Users who run accounts on Wi-Fi-only tablets or secondary phones without the primary SIM may face disruptions unless apps develop a new “linked device” protocol that satisfies the DoT.

Summary

The government’s message is clear: The anonymity of the digital space is being dismantled to protect the financial safety of citizens. While it spells the end for “ghost numbers” used by fraudsters, it also marks the beginning of a slightly more complex, verification-heavy digital life for everyone else.

Categories
Bharat Business

The Uninvited Guest Who Stayed: The Story of Black Friday in India

It used to be that November in India was a quiet month. The crackers of Diwali had been swept away, the wedding season was just warming up, and our wallets were resting after the festive spending spree.

But a few years ago, something changed.

You might have noticed it while walking past an H&M or Zara store, or while scrolling through Instagram. A bold, black banner screaming “BLACK FRIDAY SALE.”

You probably paused and thought: “Wait, we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. We aren’t in America. Why is this happening here?”

This is the story of how an American tradition crossed the ocean, lost its cultural meaning, and became one of India’s biggest shopping festivals.

The Origin: The Day After Turkey

To understand the Indian version, we have to look at the American original. In the US, “Black Friday” is the day after Thanksgiving (the fourth Thursday of November). It marks the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season.

Why “Black”? The old story goes that this was the day retail stores finally made enough money to move from being “in the red” (losing money) to “in the black” (making a profit). It is chaotic, loud, and famous for people fighting over cheap TVs.

The Arrival: The “Western” Brand Invasion

So, how did it land in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore?

It didn’t come through our festivals; it came through our closets.

About a decade ago, global fashion giants like Zara, H&M, and Marks & Spencer expanded aggressively in India. These brands run on a global calendar. When they slashed prices in New York and London for Black Friday, they couldn’t exactly keep full prices in India without upsetting global systems.

So, they brought the sale here.

At first, it was a secret for the fashion-conscious. While the rest of India was working, a small group of shoppers knew that the last Friday of November was the only time you could get a flat 40% off on winter coats.

The Digital Explosion

Then came the e-commerce giants.

Nykaa (the beauty giant) and Myntra realized there was a “spending gap” between Diwali (October/November) and the End of Reason Sales (January). They needed a reason to make people shop in late November.

They looked at Black Friday and said, “Let’s borrow that.”

Suddenly, it wasn’t just about American clothes. It became about electronics (Croma, Reliance Digital), beauty products (Pink Friday Sales), and even gym memberships.

What Black Friday Means in India Today (2025)

Today, Black Friday in India has evolved into a unique beast. It is distinct from the Great Indian Festival or Big Billion Days.

  • It’s Urban & Gen Z: While Diwali sales are for families (washing machines, gold, gifts), Black Friday is for the individual. It’s about sneakers, makeup, gaming consoles, and western wear.
  • The Timing: It usually runs for the last weekend of November (often called “Cyber Weekend” leading into “Cyber Monday”).
  • The Vibe: It lacks the emotional “homecoming” vibe of Indian festivals. It is purely, unapologetically about the Deal.

Summary

So, the next time you see that “Black Friday” notification pop up, don’t be confused. It isn’t a glitch in the matrix. It is simply the global economy at work, turning a quiet Indian November into a shopping adrenaline rush.

You might not eat Turkey, but you can certainly enjoy the 50% off on those sneakers.

Categories
Social Media

The Great Escape: How to Hit “Pause” on Instagram Without Losing Everything

It starts the same way for everyone. You pick up your phone to check the time. Twenty minutes later, you are deep in a scroll-hole, watching a stranger bake sourdough bread or feeling jealous of a friend’s vacation in Bali.

You feel it—the digital fatigue. The noise. The constant demand for your attention.

You decide you need a break. Not a breakup, just a separation. You don’t want to delete your photos, your memories, or your connections forever. You just want to disappear for a while. You want to Deactivate.

But Instagram (or rather, Meta) doesn’t exactly put a giant red “Exit” button on the home screen. They want you to stay.

Here is the story of how to navigate the maze of settings to find your peace and quiet.

The Difference: The Coma vs. The Funeral

Before you pull the trigger, you need to know what you are signing up for.

  • Deleting is a funeral. It is permanent. Once the 30-day grace period is over, your photos, likes, and followers are gone forever.
  • Deactivating is a coma. It is temporary. Your profile becomes invisible to the world. No one can search for you or see your pictures. But the moment you log back in, everything wakes up exactly as you left it.

The Journey to the “Accounts Center”

In the old days, you had to log in on a desktop browser to escape. Thankfully, in 2025, Meta has centralized everything into the Accounts Center. Here is the map to find the exit door directly from your app.

Step 1: The Three Lines

Open your profile. Look at the top right corner. See those three horizontal lines (the hamburger menu)? Tap them.

Step 2: Into the Matrix

Tap on “Settings and privacy.” Right at the top, you will see a box labeled “Accounts Center.” This is the control room for your Facebook and Instagram lives. Tap it.

Step 3: The Secret Menu

Scroll down to “Personal details.” Then, find “Account ownership and control.” (This sounds serious because it is).

Step 4: The Decision

Tap “Deactivation or deletion.” Select the account you want to put to sleep.

Step 5: The Final Choice

You will be presented with two options:

  1. Deactivate account (Temporary) – Select this one.
  2. Delete account (Permanent) – Avoid this unless you are truly done.

Tap Continue, enter your password one last time (to prove it’s really you), and provide a reason (e.g., “Just need a break”).

The Sound of Silence

Once you hit that final button, the app logs you out.

If your friends search for your name, they will see “User not found.” Your comments disappear from their posts. To the digital world, you have vanished.

But in the real world? You are still here. You put your phone down. You look up. The sourdough bread looks better in real life anyway.

How to Return

When the silence becomes too loud, or you are ready to rejoin the party, coming back is the easiest part.

Just log in.

Type your username and password, and just like magic, your profile reactivates. Every photo, every DM, and every saved reel will be waiting for you.

Categories
Productivity

The Sleeping Robot: How to “Wake Up” Macros in Excel (And Why They Were Locked)

You just received an incredible Excel file from a colleague. It’s supposed to automate your entire week’s worth of reports with a single click. You open it, excited to save hours of work, and you click the big shiny button labeled “RUN REPORT.”

Nothing happens.

You click it again. Still nothing. It’s like clicking a light switch during a power outage.

Then you notice it—a subtle, yellow warning bar at the top of your screen: “SECURITY WARNING: Macros have been disabled.”

This isn’t an error; it’s a security guard. Microsoft Excel has locked the doors to keep you safe. But if you want that report to run, you need to know how to unlock them.

Here is the story of how to enable macros, why they are disabled by default, and how to turn them on safely.

Chapter 1: Why the Door is Locked

Macros are essentially little robots written in code (VBA) that live inside your spreadsheet. Most of them are helpful assistants that do boring tasks for you.

However, in the early 2000s, hackers realized they could write “evil robots” (viruses) and hide them inside Excel files. To stop this, Microsoft decided to lock the door by default. When you open a file with macros, Excel freezes them until you say, “I trust this file.”

Chapter 2: The “One-Time” Key (Recommended)

If you just want to run a specific file you received today, you don’t need to change your global settings. You just need to unlock this specific door.

  1. Look for the Yellow Bar: When you open the file, look just below the ribbon menu at the top.
  2. The Button: You will see a button that says “Enable Content”.
  3. The Click: Click it once.

Voila! The screen might flicker for a millisecond, and suddenly, that “RUN REPORT” button works. You have given permission for the robots to work only for this session.

Chapter 3: The “Master Key” (For Power Users)

If you are a developer or you work with macro-heavy files every day, clicking that yellow button every time gets annoying. You might want to leave the door unlocked permanently.

Warning: Only do this if you have a good antivirus and never download suspicious files.

For Windows Users:

  1. Open Excel and go to File > Options.
  2. On the left menu, click Trust Center.
  3. Click the button on the right labeled Trust Center Settings…
  4. In the new window, find Macro Settings on the left.
  5. You will see four options. Select “Disable VBA macros with notification” (This is the safest standard setting—it keeps the Yellow Bar).
  6. The Risky Option: If you select “Enable VBA macros,” all codes run instantly without asking. (Use with extreme caution).

For Mac Users:

  1. Click Excel in the top menu bar > Preferences.
  2. Click on Security & Privacy.
  3. Select “Disable all macros with notification” (Recommended) or “Enable all macros” (if you like living dangerously).

Chapter 4: The Trusted Location (The VIP Room)

There is a secret third option. You can tell Excel, “Any file I put in THIS specific folder is safe.”

  1. Go back to Trust Center Settings.
  2. Select Trusted Locations.
  3. Click Add new location and browse to a specific folder on your PC (e.g., C:\My_Safe_Excel_Files).

Now, any file you save in that folder will open with macros automatically enabled, but files from your “Downloads” folder will still ask for permission. It is the best of both worlds.

Summary

Enabling macros is the difference between a static spreadsheet and a powerful application. But remember the golden rule of the internet: Never enable macros on a file you didn’t expect to receive.

Now that you’ve unlocked the robots, go hit that button and let Excel do the work for you.

Categories
Artificial intelligence

The Hoodie That Fights Back: How AI Fashion is Turning You Invisible

For decades, the hoodie was just a piece of cloth. It was a symbol of comfort, a uniform for gym-goers, and occasionally a shield for celebrities hiding from paparazzi.

But in 2025, the humble hoodie has evolved. It is no longer just cotton and polyester; it is a weapon in the war between privacy and surveillance.

This is the story of the “Adversarial Hoodie”—the first piece of clothing designed not by a human, but by an algorithm, to defeat other algorithms.

The Problem: The Eyes are Everywhere

Imagine walking down a street in London, New York, or Beijing. Every few meters, a camera scans your face. Facial recognition software maps the distance between your eyes, the shape of your nose, and the curve of your jaw. In milliseconds, it knows who you are, where you have been, and who you are with.

To a human, you are just a person in a crowd. To the Machine, you are a data point.

Designers in Italy and New York began to ask a cyberpunk question: If AI is watching us, can we use AI to hide from it?

The Solution: The “Zebra” Glitch

Enter the concept of “Adversarial Patterns.”

A brand called Cap_able and researchers like Adam Harvey (creator of CV Dazzle) discovered a flaw in the machine’s brain. AI cameras are trained to recognize “patterns” of human faces. But if you overload the camera with too much conflicting data, the AI gets confused.

They fed millions of images into an AI designer and asked it to create a pattern that looked like “noise” to a computer but “fashion” to a human.

The result? A hoodie covered in strange, swirling, colorful shapes that look like a digital tie-dye or a corrupted image file.

How It Works (The Magic Trick)

When you wear this “Artificial Intelligence Hoodie,” something incredible happens in the digital world.

As you walk past a surveillance camera:

  1. The camera tries to lock onto your face.
  2. The pattern on your chest confuses the camera’s sensors.
  3. Instead of registering “Human: Male, 30s,” the AI panics. It might classify you as a “Giraffe,” a “Zebra,” or simply “Nothing.”

You haven’t covered your face. You aren’t wearing a mask. You are hiding in plain sight, protected by a “digital invisibility cloak” woven into your fabric.

The New “AI Aesthetic”

Beyond privacy, AI is changing how hoodies look.

We are seeing a surge in “Generative Streetwear.” Designers are using tools like Midjourney and DALL-E to create impossible fabrics—hoodies that look like they are made of melting chrome, bioluminescent moss, or liquid smoke.

One viral trend involved the “Kanye West style” oversized hoodies—generated entirely by prompts, with no human sketching involved. These designs are often seamless, eerie, and geometrically perfect in a way human hands rarely achieve.

The Future: The Living Hoodie

The story doesn’t end here. We are moving toward “Agentic Clothing.”

Tech insiders predict that by 2026, the “AI Hoodie” won’t just be a print. It will have chips woven into the fibers. It will change color based on your mood (reading your body heat), adjust its insulation automatically, and perhaps even vibrate to warn you when a camera is watching.

The hoodie is growing up. It used to keep you warm; now, it keeps you private.

Categories
Artificial intelligence

The Day the World Agreed on a Soul for the Machine: The Story of UNESCO’s AI Pact

Imagine a city without traffic lights. Cars zoom through intersections, pedestrians run for their lives, and the biggest trucks bully the smallest scooters. It works—people get where they are going—but it is chaos. And if you get hit? Well, that is just the price of progress.

For a long time, this was the world of Artificial Intelligence.

Companies built algorithms that decided who got a loan, who got hired, and even who went to jail. It was a technological “Wild West.” If an AI discriminated against women or accidentally leaked your medical records, there was no global rulebook to say, “Stop. You can’t do that.”

Until a chilly day in Paris, in November 2021.

The Gathering in Paris

Inside the halls of UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), representatives from 193 countries gathered with a single mission: to write a constitution for the digital age.

They weren’t there to ban AI or stop innovation. They were there to answer a deeper question: “How do we make sure these machines don’t lose their humanity?”

After months of heated debates and sleepless nights, they emerged with a historic document: The Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.

It was the first time the entire world agreed on a “Soul” for the machine.

The 4 Pillars of the “AI Constitution”

This wasn’t just a boring legal paper. It was a promise built on four massive pillars. Imagine them as the four walls protecting us from a dystopian future:

1. Human Rights & Dignity (The Foundation)

The story starts here. The agreement stated that no algorithm is more important than a human being.

  • The Rule: AI cannot be used for “Social Scoring” (like in Black Mirror) or mass surveillance that treats citizens like suspects. If an AI hurts human dignity, it must be shut down.

2. Environment & Ecosystems (The Breathing Room)

For the first time, AI wasn’t just seen as code—it was seen as a consumer of energy.

  • The Rule: Training a massive AI model consumes as much energy as a small city. The recommendation forces companies to consider the carbon footprint of their digital brains. We shouldn’t burn the planet just to build a slightly better chatbot.

3. Diversity & Inclusiveness (The Open Door)

The delegates noticed a problem: most AI was being built by men in wealthy countries.

  • The Rule: AI must not leave anyone behind. It demanded that datasets be diverse. If an AI can’t recognize dark skin tones or assumes all doctors are men, it is “defective” and unethical.

4. Peaceful & Just Societies (The Shield)

AI should be a peacemaker, not a weapon.

  • The Rule: AI should not be used to manipulate democracy, spread hate speech, or deepen the divide between the rich and the poor.

The “Red Lines” You Should Know

The most dramatic part of this story is the “Red Lines”—the things UNESCO said we must never do.

  • No “Black Boxes” in High Stakes: If an AI denies you a mortgage or a job, it must explain why. You have the “Right to Explanation.”
  • Ban on Mass Surveillance: Governments cannot use AI to track innocent citizens without cause.
  • Gender Equality: It explicitly calls for funding to get more women into AI coding, breaking the “Bro-Code” culture of Silicon Valley.

The Ending: A Compass, Not a Map

The UNESCO Recommendation is not a law that puts people in jail (yet). It is a “Soft Law”—a compass.

Before 2021, we were driving in the dark. Now, thanks to that agreement in Paris, every government from India to Brazil to France has a direction. They are rewriting their own laws to match this global standard.

The story of AI is still being written, but because of this recommendation, the main character isn’t the Robot. It’s Us.

Categories
Artificial intelligence

The 5 Faces of AI: A Story of Evolution from Chess Bots to Self-Aware Machines

Imagine AI as a child growing up. It starts simple, learns to remember, begins to understand others, and eventually—in a distant, theoretical future—gains a sense of self.

As we head towards 2026, the world is obsessed with Artificial Intelligence. But “AI” isn’t just one thing. It’s a spectrum of evolution. To understand where we are going, we need to understand the different “species” of AI that exist today and those dreamed of for tomorrow.

There are generally two ways to classify AI: based on what it can do (Capability) and based on how it works (Functionality).

Here is the story of the five main types of artificial intelligence, from the simplest to the most god-like.

Type 1: The Specialist (Artificial Narrow Intelligence – ANI)

** Classification: Based on Capability**

This is the AI of today. Every single AI you have ever interacted with—from Siri on your phone to the Netflix recommendation engine to ChatGPT—is an Artificial Narrow Intelligence.

ANI is brilliant, but only at one specific thing. A world-champion chess AI cannot write a poem. A self-driving car AI cannot diagnose a disease. They are highly specialized tools, hyper-focused on a single domain. They do not possess genuine understanding; they are just incredibly good at pattern matching within their training data.

  • Real-World Examples: Google Search, Tesla Autopilot, Alexa, Spam filters, Generative AI tools like Midjourney.

Type 2: The Reactor (Reactive Machines)

Classification: Based on Functionality

This is the oldest and most basic form of AI. Think of it as an AI with no memory of the past and no concept of the future. It lives entirely in the present moment.

A reactive machine takes an input and provides a predictable output based on pre-programmed rules. It doesn’t learn from its mistakes. The most famous example is IBM’s Deep Blue, the supercomputer that beat chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997. It could analyze millions of potential moves on the board right now, but it didn’t “remember” the game it played yesterday to improve its strategy.

  • Real-World Examples: Deep Blue, basic recommendation engines that only use your current session data.

Type 3: The Learner (Limited Memory AI)

Classification: Based on Functionality

This is the next step in evolution. Limited Memory AI can look into the immediate past to make better decisions in the present.

Almost all modern AI applications, including Generative AI and self-driving cars, fall into this category. A self-driving car doesn’t just see the road right now; it remembers the speed and trajectory of other cars from a few seconds ago to predict where they will be next. Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT “remember” the earlier parts of your conversation to provide context-aware answers. However, their “memory” is limited to a short window or training dataset; they don’t have a lifelong, accumulating experience like a human.

  • Real-World Examples: Self-driving vehicles, chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini, virtual assistants.

Type 4: The Empath (Theory of Mind AI)

Classification: Based on Functionality

Now we enter the realm of the future. This type of AI does not exist yet.

“Theory of Mind” is a psychological term for the ability to understand that other beings have their own thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and intentions that impact their behavior. A Theory of Mind AI wouldn’t just process your commands; it would understand why you are asking, gauge your emotional state, and adjust its behavior accordingly. It would be a true social companion, capable of empathy and complex social negotiation.

  • Future Concept: An AI therapist that can read subtle emotional cues or a customer service bot that truly understands your frustration.

Type 5: The Sentient (Artificial Superintelligence – ASI & Self-Aware AI)

Classification: Based on Capability & Functionality

This is the final frontier, the stuff of science fiction movies like Her or Ex Machina.

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is the hypothetical point where an AI becomes as smart as a human across all domains—it can learn, reason, plan, and create just like us.

Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) is what happens next: an intelligence that far surpasses the brightest human minds in practically every field, including scientific creativity, general wisdom, and social skills.

A Self-Aware AI is the functional equivalent: a machine that not only thinks but has consciousness. It knows it exists, has its own feelings, needs, and beliefs. This level of AI raises profound ethical questions and remains a distant, debated possibility.

  • Future Concept: A superintelligent system that solves climate change or cures all diseases—or a sentient machine that demands its own rights.
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Artificial intelligence

Literary Shift: Top Tech Minds Publish Urgent “Survival Guides” for the AI Age

The bookshelf of the modern CEO is undergoing a dramatic transformation. Gone are the days of biographies about Steve Jobs or Elon Musk; taking their place is a new genre of “future-shock” literature.

As Artificial Intelligence accelerates at an unprecedented pace in late 2025, a wave of high-profile authors—from deep-tech insiders to historians—are releasing critical works that attempt to map the uncharted territory of the next decade. These books are not merely predicting gadgets; they are redefining what it means to be human.

For readers looking to understand the tectonic shifts occurring in Silicon Valley and beyond, four titles have emerged as essential reading this year.

The Warning: Suleyman’s “The Coming Wave”

Leading the charge is Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of DeepMind (now Google DeepMind). His book, The Coming Wave, is being cited by policymakers as a critical wake-up call.

Suleyman argues that we are approaching a convergence of AI and synthetic biology that poses a “containment problem.” Unlike nuclear weapons, which are hard to build, AI is becoming cheaper and more accessible. His reporting suggests that without immediate global regulation, the ability to create dangerous pathogens or cyber-weapons could fall into the hands of non-state actors. It is less a book about technology and more a geopolitical thriller about the fragility of the nation-state.

The Historian’s Perspective: Harari’s “Nexus”

Yuval Noah Harari, the historian who captivated the world with Sapiens, has returned with Nexus. While his previous works looked far into the past or distant future, Nexus tackles the immediate crisis of “information networks.”

Harari’s thesis is stark: Information is not truth. It is merely the glue that holds societies together. He warns that for the first time in history, we have created non-human agents (AI) capable of generating new ideas and making decisions. Nexus argues that if these networks remain unchecked, they could destroy the democratic institutions that rely on human discourse.

The Optimist’s Forecast: Kurzweil’s “The Singularity Is Nearer”

Offering a counter-narrative to the doom is legendary futurist Ray Kurzweil. In The Singularity Is Nearer, a sequel to his 2005 classic, Kurzweil doubles down on his prediction that humans will merge with machine intelligence by 2045.

Kurzweil’s writing remains unapologetically optimistic. He presents data suggesting that AI will not replace us, but rather “upgrade” us—solving the climate crisis, curing cancer, and extending human longevity. For investors and technologists, this book provides the roadmap for the “abundance” era.

The Playbook: Mollick’s “Co-Intelligence”

While Harari and Kurzweil debate the philosophy, Wharton Professor Ethan Mollick has provided the manual. His book, Co-Intelligence, has become the de-facto textbook for the white-collar workforce.

Mollick treats AI not as a search engine, but as an “alien intern”—incredibly smart, but prone to hallucinations. His report focuses on the practical application of Large Language Models (LLMs) in the workplace, arguing that those who learn to “invite the alien” into their workflow will see productivity gains of up to 40%, while those who resist face obsolescence.

Market Reaction

The popularity of these four titles signals a shift in public sentiment. “People are no longer looking for ‘how-to’ guides on coding,” says industry analyst Sarah Jenks. “They are looking for philosophical anchors. They want to know if their jobs, and their reality, will exist in ten years.”