AI is like a tiger, will it eat us up or can we ride it? The Cassandras say that it will make humans obsolete, while the Polyannas say what’s wrong with that if it saves people from mundane work so they can devote time to more creative pursuits. Even if AI solves major problems, might it lead to mass unemployment or exacerbate wealth inequality? Will artificial intelligence help solve the crises that the planet faces, or will it make everything more dangerous? Some of these issues are addressed in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) annual Human Development Report for 2025. Titled A Matter of Choice: People and Possibilities in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, it reasons that rather than assuming AI will run wild and result in either utopian or dystopian outcomes, AI will reflect the values of those shaping it. Some may view this as overly optimistic or naive, especially given the seemingly exponential rate at which AI is gaining capabilities. Yet, there are no major cases, yet, of AI models going rogue, and they do tend to reflect the biases of their training data. UNDP’s choice of the word ‘choice’ in the title of its 2025 report acknowledges the reality that AI is no longer science fiction or under development, but a tangible presence. It is perhaps the most powerful and disruptive technology humanity has created, with consequences rivaling those of electricity, computers, or the internet. Some utopian online communities, such as ‘e/acc’ (effective acceleration), believe AI will solve humanity’s problems and enhance its future. They advocate for rapid advancements with minimal, if any, regulation.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025061606068_1139c7c719c17cf731a6fe99c51afccca36c2500bc3c33f865fef81a4ce33d73.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025061606068_1139c7c719c17cf731a6fe99c51afccca36c2500bc3c33f865fef81a4ce33d73" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1118" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal needs to be more intelligent about AI NT"></figure>  The UNDP report addresses these concerns, emphasising that AI should augment human work rather than replace it, that it will not magically solve poverty or climate change, and that it must be accessible to marginalised groups to prevent further exclusion. It also raises concerns that there is only a small group controlling AI development, treating AI as a vital resource and a fundamental right. While Nepal may lack cutting-edge AI talent and hardware, the country’s potential to maximise hydropower generation could supply the vast energy required to train AI models. Teams in India and China might even consider building data centers here. At the policy level, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology released an ambitious ‘Draft of National AI Policy 2081’ in February 2025 which covers extensive ground, it remains very much a draft -- a wish list rather than a concrete strategy. The only detailed section outlines the composition of a future regulatory body, mentions building ‘international-standard data centers’ and deploying ‘5G and beyond’, despite limited broadband access across the country, and leaves funding details to ‘regular budgets’ and ‘international donors.’ Nepal’s IT sector could be a key player. Global companies have long outsourced coding to Nepal, where skilled, English-speaking programmers work at competitive rates, even by South Asian standards. As AI improves at generating standardised, reusable ‘boilerplate’ code, junior coders may face job losses. However, the ability to quickly produce code could spark a boom in coding jobs, much like the loom initially displaced weavers but ultimately created more jobs and affordable clothing.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025061606068_4e6f7bde438c01a40ca2e9542af0c86c3a9c8879bfc45688a1df0325108c05ef.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025061606068_4e6f7bde438c01a40ca2e9542af0c86c3a9c8879bfc45688a1df0325108c05ef" data-rendition-name="original" width="1436" height="1534" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal needs to be more intelligent about AI NT"></figure>  The high demand and compensation for software engineers skilled in building AI tools could also encourage Nepal’s sizable IT workforce to pivot in that direction. The UNDP report notes that AI excels at bridging the gap between unskilled and skilled labour for general tasks. With Nepal’s low illiteracy rate, this could be a significant advantage. AI’s potential as a learning tool could also transform the often-criticized Nepali education system. Nepali companies are also taking strides in AI product development, beyond just providing coding services. FuseMachines, for instance, builds AI tools to extract data from documents and detect financial fraud, achieving such success that it went public on NASDAQ in 2024. WiseYak develops healthcare software that uses AI to analyze customer data for insights and diagnoses. Communities like the Nepal Applied Mathematics and Informatics Institute for Research (NAAMII) drive AI innovation through research, hackathons, conferences, workshops, and lectures. Their projects include AI-Assisted Smartphone Microscopy, AI-assisted VIA Screening for Cervical Cancer, and large language models akin to ChatGPT but in Nepali. Students can engage with AI through academic programs. Numerous institutions now offer AI courses at undergraduate and graduate levels. Madan Bhandari University of Science and Technology (UST) in Chitlang, for example, provides a Master’s of Applied Science in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. In June it announced two PhD spots in Digital Technology (Artificial Intelligence) and will offer AI studies to undergraduates starting in November. The Master’s program is designed as a ‘Master’s by Research,’ with over half of the 50 credit hours dedicated to a thesis project. Given AI’s rapidly evolving nature, there is no fixed syllabus; professors tailor the curriculum. “The university has a set of available projects, and we evaluate a student’s background and capabilities before assigning one,” says Rajiv Subba, Assistant Professor at the UST’s Digital Technology Program.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025061606068_bdf76f4694999bacd1635f57713d58a75229e58a0b478f6b57537b85c2102fb9.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025061606068_bdf76f4694999bacd1635f57713d58a75229e58a0b478f6b57537b85c2102fb9" data-rendition-name="original" width="1308" height="1684" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal needs to be more intelligent about AI NT"></figure>  While most current Master’s students have computer engineering backgrounds, this is not a prerequisite. Rupesh Aryal, a Master’s student in AI says: “One person in my cohort has a background in agriculture, while another studied medicine and is working on AI for digital imaging.” His thesis focuses on a Nepali large language model. Other projects include early forest fire detection, AI for drug discovery, and models to predict human-wildlife conflict. “We accept students from any science background, provided they have undergraduate-level statistics and programming experience,” says Subba. “We also encourage entrepreneurial skills and policy involvement, so our Master’s students take elective courses in these areas.” Subba believes funding research is critical for AI progress in Nepal, as a successful model can have widespread applications. “The government could allocate 50 lakhs in seed money for research to each university,” he suggests. “The biggest obstacles are funding, limited high-quality data for training models, and a shortage of faculty. Qualified candidates are scarce and often reluctant to work in Chitlang or Nepal.” Retaining students for Master’s programs is a first step toward building a local talent pool, with hopes that some will pursue PhDs and become faculty. “We still learn from world-class AI educators, even if they can’t be here physically,” says Aryal. A recent visitor was Professor Gerald Penn from the University of Toronto, an expert in natural language processing. “We have all the GPUs we need to train models, and students receive scholarships and stipends.” “Most of my peers are committed to staying in Nepal and contributing,” Aryal adds, “while some plan to pursue PhDs abroad and return.” Nepal’s best strategy for thriving in the AI era lies in developing talent through well-designed programs like the one at Madan Bhandari University. “The government’s AI policies currently prioritise control and regulation over fostering growth,” says Subba.

Vishad Raj Onta

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Nepal needs to be more intelligent about AI

Since returning from this year’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, I have been asked repeatedly for my biggest takeaways. Among the most widely discussed issues this year was artificial intelligence – especially generative AI (‘GenAI’). With the recent adoption of large language models (ChatGPT) there is much hope – and hype – about what AI could do for productivity and economic growth in the future.
But our world is dominated far more by human stupidity than by artificial intelligence. The proliferation of <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/megathreats-remain-despite-moderation-of-pandemic-and-other-shocks-by-nouriel-roubini-2023-11">megathreats</a> – each an element in the broader ‘polycrisis’ – confirms that our politics are too dysfunctional, and our policies too misguided, to address even the most serious and obvious risks to our future.
These include climate change, failed states which will make waves of climate refugees even larger, and recurrent virulent pandemics that could be even more economically damaging than Covid-19.&nbsp;
Making matters worse, dangerous geopolitical rivalries are evolving into new cold wars such as between the United States and China, and into potentially explosive hot wars, like those in Ukraine and the West Asia.&nbsp;
Around the world, rising income and wealth inequality, partly driven by hyper-globalisation and labor-saving technologies, have triggered a backlash against liberal democracy, creating opportunities for populist, autocratic, and violent political movements.
Unsustainable levels of private and public debt threaten to precipitate debt and financial crises, and we may yet see a return of inflation and stagflationary negative aggregate supply shocks. The broader trend globally is toward protectionism, de-globalization, de-coupling, and de-dollarisation.
Moreover, the same brave new AI technologies that could contribute to growth and human welfare also have great destructive potential. They are already being used to push disinformation, deepfakes, and election manipulation into hyperdrive, as well as raising fears about permanent technological unemployment and even starker inequality. The rise of autonomous weapons and AI-augmented cyber-warfare is equally ominous.
Blinded by the dazzle of AI, Davos attendees did not focus on most of these megathreats. This came as no surprise. The WEF zeitgeist is, in my experience, a counter-indicator of where the world is really heading. Policymakers and business leaders are there to flog their books and spew platitudes. They represent the conventional wisdom, which is often based on a rear-window view of global and macroeconomic developments.
There is a very good chance that AI will indeed change the world in the coming decades. But the WEF’s focus on GenAI already seems misplaced, considering that the AI technologies and industries of the future will go far beyond these models. Consider, for example, the ongoing revolution in robotics and automation, which will soon lead to the development of robots with human-like features that can learn and multitask the way we do.
Or consider what AI will do for biotech, medicine, and ultimately human health and lifespans. No less intriguing are the developments in quantum computing, which will eventually merge with AI to produce advanced cryptography and cybersecurity applications.
The same long-term perspective also should be applied to climate debates. It is becoming increasingly likely that the problem will not be resolved with renewable energy – which is growing too slowly to make significant difference – or expensive technologies like carbon capture and sequestration and green hydrogen. Instead, we may see a fusion energy revolution, provided that a commercial reactor can be built in the next 15 years.&nbsp;
This abundant source of cheap, clean energy, combined with inexpensive desalination and agro-tech, would allow us to feed the ten billion people who will be living on the planet by the end of this century.
Similarly, the revolution in financial services will not be centered arounddecentralisedblockchains or cryptocurrencies. Rather, it will feature the kind of AI-enabled centralisedfintech that is already improving payment systems, lending and credit allocation, insurance underwriting, and asset management.&nbsp;
Materials science will lead to a revolution in new components, 3D-printing manufacturing, nanotechnologies, and synthetic biology. Space exploration and exploitation will help us save the planet and find ways to create extra-planetary modes of living.
These and many other technologies could change the world for the better, but only if we can manage their negative side effects, and only if they are used to resolve all the megathreats we face. One hopes that artificial intelligence someday will overcome human stupidity. But it will never get the chance if we destroy ourselves first.
©Project Syndicate
Nouriel Roubini, Professor Emeritus of Economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business, is author of <a href="https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/nouriel-roubini/megathreats/9780316284059/">Megathreats: Ten Dangerous Trends That Imperil Our Future, and How to Survive Them</a> (Little, Brown and Company, &nbsp;2022). <a href="https://nourielroubini.com/">NourielRoubini.com</a>

Artificial Intelligence vs Human Stupidity

The bewildering speed with which generative artificial intelligence developed in just one year dominated the news in 2023. This set off both alarm and excitement: how <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-in-the-decade-of-ai">AI innovation</a> offers solutions to everyday chores, while taking us into dangerous new terrain. Geeks and tech freaks like me watched fascinated as AI applications accelerated in the past year. It was only in March 2023 that I got hooked into AI apps and wrote the front page report in Nepali Times titled Ayo AI. Last week, this paper carried an AI-assisted artwork by digital artist Ashim Shakya (pictured below), showing the enormous possibilities in enhancing existing creative processes.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231223031244_c50108558fee57438989879fe5e8d7f4674979947cd989c8772c6b5cfb248c83.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20231223031244_c50108558fee57438989879fe5e8d7f4674979947cd989c8772c6b5cfb248c83" data-rendition-name="original" width="629" height="916" loading="lazy" alt="NT 1191"> </figure>  When I began to grasp AI knowhow, I never expected to continue using generative AI apps but was hooked into it. From Open <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/chatgpt-news-about-nepal">AI’s ChatGPT</a> 3.5 and two other image generators, I have now tried out over 1,000 apps. Even that is just a drop in the ocean of AI apps available today. &nbsp; In May, when <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai">Ayo AI was featured in this paper</a>, there were about 640 AI apps. There were 10,842 relevant AIs to 9,000 tasks as we went to press on Thursday. It could impact 5,000 job sectors if these AIs are directly embedded into their workflows.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023123003124_c7a93663335a91461f5e1cee7503dd13c06119e354a29ba282ace94a7837dc60.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2023123003124_c7a93663335a91461f5e1cee7503dd13c06119e354a29ba282ace94a7837dc60" data-rendition-name="original" width="752" height="1140" loading="lazy" alt="AI in Nepal"> </figure>  So far, there is no evidence of this happening yet. According to the world’s number one AI aggregator, ‘There is an AI for that’ among job holders, 98% of those impacted will be the communications managers and others in this sector. But that is just an opinion, not yet a fact. For content creators, 2023 has been a great year with generative AI app for almost every task. These can be done with just a few text prompts to generate ideas, stories, voiceovers, images, illustrations, websites, infographic designs, animations, music and videos.&nbsp; ChatGPT is no longer the dominant chatbot, but is still one of the best. It was my favourite until I started using Anthropic’s Claude-2 that was released in July. It gives 200,000 tokens, which means that we can upload large documents up to 75,000 words and have it summarised in bullet points simplifying the text. I could use it to synthesise this review, but am doing it the old fashioned way. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231230021236_ee9a91549eee9027c52b23401f43642bbdc849cdcb188ab71db889240ce428ae.png" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20231230021236_ee9a91549eee9027c52b23401f43642bbdc849cdcb188ab71db889240ce428ae" data-rendition-name="original" width="2100" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="AI in 2024"> <figcaption>High resolution AI-generated image of a Nepali child walking with baby rhino. The only problem is that AI didn't seem to be able to tell the difference between an Asiatic and African rhino. All prompts: NARESH NEWAR</figcaption> </figure>  <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="700" height="450" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EAbk6H0_Qb4?si=dpyFkgb84WpAopMD" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> The biggest sensation is Gemini AI, considered the most capable AI model developed by Google DeepMind, able to communicate and generate human-like texts. Gemini Pro Vision can interpret any image through its image reasoning task, and has the ability to describe the image and write captions. Its most significant feature is to identify if a photograph or artwork is original or AI-generated. AI-powered image generators have advanced a lot and taken such a huge leap in creating realism in photos and art. Videos have advanced to another level. InVideo, for example, can produce a whole video with just a text prompt: from writing a complete script, a voiceover, and creating visuals selected from its 9 million video stock. A major milestone in generative AI is the Runway, which generates amazing visuals with just a text prompt.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231230021240_46a18d9e0b1af7a67499b5d39a180688e0d887f91b8c096f7a2fde388b89c68d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20231230021240_46a18d9e0b1af7a67499b5d39a180688e0d887f91b8c096f7a2fde388b89c68d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1344" height="896" loading="lazy" alt="AI in 2024"> <figcaption>Water colour of rural Nepal, showing how AIs now have perfected hues and textures without the need for colour correction.</figcaption> </figure>  Another new addition that could be Runway’s biggest competitor is Pika, its web-based version is now available but has a long waitlist. (I finally managed to get access after a two week wait.) It blew me away with its features: from text to video, video to video. And users can upscale the video, add duration, have out-painting, in-painting and a canvas feature. AI-generated music is also gaining momentum as part of the audio-generation tools and platforms and being hugely invested by some of the biggest tech companies. Suno AI is considered the best music app so far, and was started by a group of musicians in partnership with AI experts in Cambridge, Massachusetts.&nbsp; <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="700" height="450" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/10p5ckFlnBU?si=2dIOLkpv0duXpVwS" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> In December, it partnered with Microsoft, which has integrated Suno AI in its Copilot as a plugin. Facebook and Google are also partnering with other music companies to create their own AI music audio generation apps. AI is not hype anymore, it is a reality. This is the right time to be in the business. For content creators with technical knowledge and skills for design software like the Adobe products or Affinity, it enriches their work and makes them more productive, cost-effective and enhances inventiveness. Warning: it takes time to master the technique and perfect content.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231230021240_7200af85f6f326a078b5c26c0c7e99c7a21528a263f8f74c987e54cb5fb5d038.png" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20231230021240_7200af85f6f326a078b5c26c0c7e99c7a21528a263f8f74c987e54cb5fb5d038" data-rendition-name="original" width="1024" height="1024" loading="lazy" alt="AI in 2024"> <figcaption>Snow leopard in the Nepal Himalaya.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231230021244_401ddc826e5a58ae32e44079ef369bfd3c9f926a103eb6cae627858c5371ee10.png" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20231230021244_401ddc826e5a58ae32e44079ef369bfd3c9f926a103eb6cae627858c5371ee10" data-rendition-name="original" width="2100" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="AI in 2024"> <figcaption>3D image of an animated frog. Now AIs can create super high resolution 3D animated images.</figcaption> </figure>  &nbsp;But AI-generated content is still not as lucrative as people have been led to believe. Customers still prefer original writing and art, photography or videos. YouTube, the biggest platform for creators, encourages original content. &nbsp; YouTube users are often critical of AI-generated content as they do not want to spend time watching fake content created with AI. I tried that once with my own YouTube channel and many wrote angry messages and they felt offended.&nbsp; So far, the only AI content that really sells well on YouTube is news about latest AI updates, videos with clickbait titles about how to generate income using AI, or those showcasing new AI apps, interviews with AI experts, and especially scaremongering news about AI destroying humanity. Instagram has been a popular platform for original and creative content creators and is now crowded with millions of them. However, their AI-generated content do not get as good a response as original posts.&nbsp; There is fear mongering about how AI could destroy the careers of people in the creative fields, but AI generative tools have not ruined professional content creators like the designers, content writers, photographers, videographers and paint artists.&nbsp; It is true that the evolution of the AI generative tools has been speeding up, and we can predict even more advanced generative AI apps. The age of content creation is here and AI apps may be commercially viable and socially acceptable if used ethically and with transparency.&nbsp; For hardworking creative professionals, technology transformation has never been a threat or a challenge to their artistic creations. This argument, or rather assumption, about generative AI being a threat is exaggerated. A lot of creative people have joined the AI revolution, enhancing their original pieces of artistic creations. &nbsp;&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231230021248_354194b90332a9d05ecca9ad294eb4b0030705f3f7c65b105e6e49bceffe9e4c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20231230021248_354194b90332a9d05ecca9ad294eb4b0030705f3f7c65b105e6e49bceffe9e4c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1024" height="1024" loading="lazy" alt="AI in 2024"> <figcaption>Urban sketch of imaginary Asan bazar. AIs are now able to generate images relevant to local cultural context. Nepal is now largely in the AI datasets.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231230021248_dc93e7c3e11ca13971cbc48cedf7248aa1ae2305c875e78abc5355ad7b6a9fd4.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20231230021248_dc93e7c3e11ca13971cbc48cedf7248aa1ae2305c875e78abc5355ad7b6a9fd4" data-rendition-name="original" width="2100" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="AI in 2024"> <figcaption>Manga art of a young Nepali girl watching iceless mountain witnessing the impact of climate change. AIs have perfected generating digital painting.</figcaption> </figure>  &nbsp;

What to expect from AI in 2024

During his postdoctoral research in London, Bishesh Khanal was trying to build a robot to perform automated ultrasound scans. He remembers thinking Nepal could not afford such expensive robots, how about a simple device for non-experts in remote areas to do ultrasounds?&nbsp; This was not a new idea for Khanal. While pursuing his PhD in a research lab in France, he had tried to find appropriate healthcare solutions for low and middle-income countries.&nbsp; “We saw powerful countries racing to make Covid jabs after the virus threatened them, but other lethal diseases like dengue and malaria that affect poorer countries are neglected,” Khanal says.&nbsp; As an engineering student in Kathmandu, Khanal already knew Nepal was ill-equipped in research and development. Even the Institute of Engineering lacked opportunities for students to foster innovation.&nbsp; Khanal returned to Nepal, and established <a href="https://www.naamii.org.np/">NAAMII</a> (Nepal Applied Mathematics and Informatics Institute for Research) together with a team of co-founders to explore areas where technology, specifically Artificial Intelligence, could help make a difference.&nbsp; Read Also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificially-intelligent-medicine"> Artificially intelligent medicine,</a> Yugeshwor Koirala In Europe, Khanal had friends and colleagues who shared his belief in using technologies like AI models to help solve some of Nepal's most basic problems from access to healthcare to governance and cyber-security.&nbsp; “We all agreed that harnessing that potential in research could change things,” Khanal recalls. Nepal’s universities lack opportunities to institutionalise STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) research. Khanal and his team knew that trying to bring change at the university level would lead nowhere. So they settled on a second option: starting a small and focussed centre to catalyse change. NAAMII is a private, not-for-profit research organisation with the mission to build a foundation of scientific research in Nepal in informatics, applied math, and AI.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230928080936_29779924e57b4acd65d845effe08a6504fe608e532a0dbbc384ded96313e9f1f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20230928080936_29779924e57b4acd65d845effe08a6504fe608e532a0dbbc384ded96313e9f1f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="764" loading="lazy" alt="NAAMII 2"> <figcaption>NAAMII's Annual Nepal AI School is a dynamic forum that brings together global experts, researchers, and enthusiasts to review AI advancements.</figcaption> </figure>  NAAMII’s research integrates AI, computing and robotics to tackle some of the most pressing challenges in healthcare, agriculture and governance.&nbsp; One ongoing project helps the public get reliable sexual, reproductive and maternal health information through ChatGPT. Another project is developing an AI system that can take x-ray images from different angles to accurately reconstruct 3D bone structures, enabling proper diagnosis and treatment planning. Unlike a CT-scan, this technology can be a more accessible and affordable option in Nepal. Read Also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai">Ayo AI</a>, Naresh Newar “We dissect every problem to see exactly where technology and AI can fit in, and we put accessibility and affordability front and centre,” explains Khanal.&nbsp; As Nepal jumps on the AI bandwagon, the NAAMII team is also engaged in outreach and educational programs to help young Nepalis build foundational knowledge in AI, mathematics and machine learning.&nbsp; Its Annual Nepal AI School is a dynamic forum that brings together global experts, researchers, and enthusiasts to review AI advancements. Over the past four years, NAAMII has seen more than 500 participants from more than 25 countries come to Nepal to learn from experts. Says Khanal: “Nepal is already a hub for AI learning.”

Nothing artificial about his intelligence

Nepal finds itself at an intersection of two potent forces – a technological revolution sweeping the globe and a dramatic demographic shift. Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, often seen as the deus ex machina of the 21st century, are making their presence in every part of our lives. This digital metamorphosis comes with its benefits and threats. While they promise to augment economic activities, they simultaneously risk displacing numerous labour-intensive jobs. This concern is acute for a country like Nepal, where remittances from its workers in the Gulf countries, a region rapidly embracing technological shift, account for almost 26% of the nation’s GDP. “Job displacement from labor-intensive industries has been taking place for several decades, as countries move to higher-value-added activities and services,” wrote Mckinsey &amp; Company in The Future of Jobs in the Middle East in 2018, adding that this will accelerate <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/middle-east-and-africa/are-middle-east-workers-ready-for-the-impact-of-automation">between now and 2030 with 45% of existing work in the Middle East potentially being automated.</a>  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230904090952_a93aeeca5e7480559a7ada068cb22ba7247b73088349c2eedead1f35af622d81.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20230904090952_a93aeeca5e7480559a7ada068cb22ba7247b73088349c2eedead1f35af622d81" data-rendition-name="original" width="918" height="685" loading="lazy" alt="Tech and transition"></figure>   <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230904090952_1b3468214a3703bdf69e5c332831d25699cd690e170d2ef7b1418fbbe19ca9f6.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20230904090952_1b3468214a3703bdf69e5c332831d25699cd690e170d2ef7b1418fbbe19ca9f6" data-rendition-name="original" width="676" height="305" loading="lazy" alt="ILO"><figcaption>Source: Recruitment of migrant workers from Nepal: Country Profile (ILO, 2021)</figcaption></figure>  This should be of special concern for policymakers in labour exporting countries like Nepal given the inherent <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/featured%20insights/middle%20east%20and%20africa/are%20middle%20east%20workers%20ready%20for%20the%20impact%20of%20automation/the-future-of-jobs-in-the-middle-east.pdf">link between displacement potential by automation and low-to-medium levels of education and experience</a>. Workers who have a ‘high-school education or less’ are most vulnerable to the shocks associated with automation. The average automation potential of jobs requiring less than high school, or high school/some experience is more than 50%. Labour migrating from Nepal predominantly characterised by a preponderance of young unskilled labor (more than 54% of total labor migration) are most vulnerable in this displacement.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230904090952_184cb0d4a71b043fa9cbc0cf102e6ceee65e43dd27e42e3d5d3befdce491525f.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20230904090952_184cb0d4a71b043fa9cbc0cf102e6ceee65e43dd27e42e3d5d3befdce491525f" data-rendition-name="original" width="918" height="644" loading="lazy" alt="Tech and transition"></figure>   <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230904090952_fdb171a296445b16abb2dd9a04e2dac49a0e8d8723b7564bf232b96a4ad16f36.png" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20230904090952_fdb171a296445b16abb2dd9a04e2dac49a0e8d8723b7564bf232b96a4ad16f36" data-rendition-name="original" width="1106" height="268" loading="lazy" alt="Tech and transition"><figcaption>Source: Recruitment of migrant workers from Nepal: Country Profile (ILO, 2021)</figcaption></figure>  At the same time, Nepal with more than 60% of its population falling in the working age group is undergoing a demographic shift. Drawing upon the 2021 census data, Nepal’s annual population growth rate has decreased to 0.92% with the birth rate having dropped while life expectancy is on the rise. The World Bank data reveals that Nepal’s birth rate dropped from 31 per 1,000 people in 2000 to 20 in 2020, while <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?locations=NP">life expectancy</a> has risen from 63 years to 69 years during the same period. The number of people older than 60 has climbed by 2 percent points. By 2040, the <a href="https://databank.worldbank.org/source/population-estimates-and-projections">population estimates and projections from the World Bank</a> shows that the proportion of elderly population in Nepal will have increased by more than one third. These demographic forces are poised to cause a significant increase in the dependency ratio (dependent people as percent of the working age population), a challenge for an economy primarily dependent on labour remittance.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230904100944_d1d3d49bf18f40fb0ec96b81bcb77ff1cbf2641896397b71868cae07fc78d131.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20230904100944_d1d3d49bf18f40fb0ec96b81bcb77ff1cbf2641896397b71868cae07fc78d131" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="700" loading="lazy" alt="demographic transition"><figcaption>Source: Nepal Population and Housing Census (NSO- NPHC, 2021)</figcaption></figure>  Nevertheless, technological revolution has not only reshaped global superpowers but has also provided emerging economies with opportunities to leapfrog traditional developmental transition. Digital technology’s creative destruction could spawn new sectors of employment, that could help to harness the benefit of demographic dividend and improve the quality of life in the longer run. <a href="https://www.iids.org.np/images/publications/53e4e8a0c60bb963dfdabce67ec5fdcf.pdf">A study by the Institute of Integrated Development Studies</a> offers insightful data that underscores the significance. By 2022, Nepali IT companies had made a substantial investment of $41.26 million across the country. This investment reflects the growing confidence of stakeholders in the potential of the IT sectors. More impressively, these investments translated into staggering revenue of $515 million, showcasing the sector’s profitability, and its capacity to contribute to the national economy. As technology has made more services tradable, Nepal has the opportunity to transition from labour exports to service exports. This not only retains talent within the country but also creates job opportunities for the youth, addressing the brain drain issue. However, the trajectory isn’t as straightforward. Digital inclusion gaps, a limited capacity for innovative digital tech use, myopic labour laws, lack of data security laws, shortage of skills and IT infrastructural challenges pose substantial barriers for inclusive growth. Moreover, Nepal has grappled with governance failure and political instability that have hampered past policy implementation efforts, pointing towards a more critical systemic challenge. On one hand, IT companies seek workforce proficiency in essential areas such as UI/UX, SQL, full stack web development, python, DevOps, and automation testing.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230904090956_bf93b210720350521983eeebac9d8f82458aaf26608105bd57fb32991929002e.png" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20230904090956_bf93b210720350521983eeebac9d8f82458aaf26608105bd57fb32991929002e" data-rendition-name="original" width="655" height="455" loading="lazy" alt="Tech and transition"><figcaption>Source: Unleashing IT: Advancing Nepal’s Digital Economy (IIDS, 2023) </figcaption></figure>  While on the other hand, demographic profile of Nepal shows that there are less than 2% youths in the age group 15-39 years with 10+2 or equivalent who have computing and technology as major field of study. The figure is much higher for those enrolled in management at more than 35%.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230904090956_58e440ecb976281a220e2d16c26ff12c4679418957ca77c33250fbcd26792299.png" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20230904090956_58e440ecb976281a220e2d16c26ff12c4679418957ca77c33250fbcd26792299" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="800" loading="lazy" alt="Tech and transition"><figcaption>Source: Nepal Population and Housing Census (NSO- NPHC, 2021) </figcaption></figure>  Viewed through a gender lens, females within this age group exhibit a strong inclination towards Education and Health/Medical Sciences. Their representation in the field of Computing and Information Technology remains strikingly low, accounting for less than 1% of the cohort.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023090410090_8697f24662b6a53800810f764bb8d834b5198772b28cf29845ef23ec65bf15be.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="2023090410090_8697f24662b6a53800810f764bb8d834b5198772b28cf29845ef23ec65bf15be" data-rendition-name="original" width="1900" height="800" loading="lazy" alt="Tech and transition"><figcaption>Source: Nepal Population and Housing Census (NSO- NPHC, 2021) </figcaption></figure>  While established <a href="https://b360nepal.com/public/putting-his-stamp-on-the-world-kiran-bhakta-joshi">digital enterprises and burgeoning startups are navigating through the talent pool</a>, they frequently encounter a significant void: a dearth of individuals possessing the requisite skills to be deemed employable. This scarcity is particularly pronounced among women, whose specific skill gaps act as a formidable barrier, constraining their full participation in the digital workforce and entrepreneurial ventures. Madhes Province, for instance, with a youthful demographic paradoxically grapples with staggering low female literacy rate (54.7%).  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230904100932_7b52c96ac5b03f15a358ec65d94d9485e78aba51c3f2ac8915041e98fd337779.png" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20230904100932_7b52c96ac5b03f15a358ec65d94d9485e78aba51c3f2ac8915041e98fd337779" data-rendition-name="original" width="1512" height="634" loading="lazy" alt="Tech and transition"><figcaption>Source: Nepal Population and Housing Census (NSO- NPHC, 2021)</figcaption></figure>  It is crucial to consider the <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w28551">unequal effects of service-led growth</a>, a phenomenon that has been observed in other developing countries like India. In Nepal, this could exacerbate existing urban-rural divides, as the evolution of informational technology may not absorb the unskilled labour from rural area that currently seeks employment abroad, particularly in the Gulf countries. It is imperative for Nepal to craft policies that are sensitive to these unequal effects. This could include investing in education and training programs that are aligned with the needs of the IT sector, bridging rural development initiatives that complement holistic service led growth, and implementing training programs that help females and individuals from underrepresented groups in the burgeoning IT sector. As the tides of time advance, we find countries steadily pivoting towards realms of higher intellectual yield—towards activities and services that demand less from the body and more from the mind. Nepal with its youthful demographic could, to some extent, harness the power of technology to spur economic growth. However, this same demographic group, given their current education levels, might not effectively complement in the aspired trajectory. Moreover, they are potentially the most vulnerable to unemployment due to automation, especially with over 54% of total labour migration being unskilled. The government faces a herculean task in turning technology into a viable solution for employment and inclusive growth. Development stakeholders in the young republic must guide this transformation with astute policymaking and strategies as we witness Nepal's demographic shift in the age of automation.” Ashutosh M. Dixit is an economist and an Australia Award Scholar with over 15 years of experience. He has worked with the National Planning Commission in Nepal and global institutions including the World Bank, UNICEF, UN-ESCAP, OECD, UNDP, and Standard Chartered.

Tech and transition in Nepal

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151128/636a67909c7e80680e0599e4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Photo : MONIKA DEUPALA</figcaption></figure>Much more than today, in the next decade smartphones will become the primary means of accessing the internet in Nepal, making social media an even greater influence in society. At the same time, financial technology, AI and e-commerce will transform the economy.Already, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-nepals-media-landscape-is-being-transformed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">96% of households in Nepal have at least one mobile phone</a> and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepalis-are-drifting-to-digital-media/">more than half of those were smartphones</a>. A survey this year showed that nearly everyone here who accesses the internet does it through a smartphone — and almost everyone who is logged on also has a<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/facebook-nation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Facebook account</a>.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/so-you-want-to-quit-facebook/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">So, you want to quit Facebook?</a>, Reeti KC<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/face-to-face-with-facebook/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Face-to-face with Facebook</a>, Editorial“Once you are introduced to the smartphone and the features that come along with, it is very difficult to go back, and this trend is growing exponentially,” says Madhu Acharya of Sharecast Initiative, which conducts the annual social media survey. He forecast that the digital divide between urban and rural is going to narrow in the coming decade.“More older people will be accessing the Net through smartphones, which will get cheaper,” adds Acharya. He gives the example of his father, who used to own a feature phone but switched to a smartphone to communicate with grandchildren and relatives abroad through Facebook.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-is-becoming-a-nation-of-net-addicts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal is becoming a nation of net addicts</a>, Sabina DevkotaThe trend of using the internet to access media sites is going to grow in coming years, as digital portals replace television to become the key source of national and international news for Nepalis. People will get more and more used to watching content whenever and wherever they like rather than wait for the 7 o’clock news bulletin.In terms of online finances, Sumana Shrestha of Fusemachines says that the latest algorithms will provide a larger section of the population access to financial technology in the coming decade. AI has been making progress in Nepal, and possibly the biggest change will come when the technology that digitises handwritten application forms, through Nepal’s AI Office of Civilian Requirements, will be smart enough to produce an editable document both in English and Nepali.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/bringing-silicon-valley-to-kathmandu-valley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bringing Silicon Valley to Kathmandu Valley</a>, Sonia AwaleNepal has a wealth of software talent in information technology, and this need to be converted to work with AI, Shrestha says. Fusemachines and other AI-centred companies are already collaborating with local engineering colleges to build a critical mass of AI expertise in Nepal.Kai-Fu Lee, the former president of Google China and an AI expert, wrote the book <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/the-ai-super-powers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order</a>. He predicts that in the coming decade a country will forge ahead if it has ‘an army of well-trained engineers and entrepreneurs, AI scientists ... with abundant data and a supportive policy environment’.‘China is able to apply skilled AI in various areas, like healthcare, finance, safety systems and systems for smart houses,’ Lee writes, adding, ‘poor countries will stagnate while the AI superpowers take off.’Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/can-nepal-invest-in-the-cloud/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Can Nepal invest in the cloud?</a>, Ganesh AcharyaShrestha thinks Nepal has not done enough in AI adoption compared with other countries. “Nepal has a very young population, which means we can incorporate AI in the curriculum to reach a huge segment of the population, and we are hoping to be able to develop talents within a year or two on a mass scale. There is a tremendous opportunity for Nepal to lead and make a huge impact,” says Shrestha, who sees immediate applications of AI in the tourism industry.“Nepal can zero in on the right kind of tourist and make sure our ads and messaging is getting to them. That will increase the volume of tourists coming to Nepal and will make sure tourists have a good quality of experience,” she adds.Nepal will also have to catch up with its immediate neighbours in opening payment gateways on the Internet and promoting e-commerce. For example, China has already moved beyond phone-based payment with AI-based face recognition systems on Alipay, in which people pay their bills by scanning their faces at a checkout point without having to use their mobiles.Although online payment gateways such as eSewa and IMEPay have been established here, Nepal is still miles away from having a mature <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-budding-e-commerce-ecosystem/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">e-commerce system</a>. The government’s 2019 Digital Nepal Framework admits: ‘The growth of e-commerce in Nepal is inhibited due to the lack of a supporting ecosystem such as limited digital payment options.’While others have already taken a leap in device-free commerce, if Nepal can at least make internet payment through mobile phones secure and convenient during the coming decade, that will already be an achievement.<h2>What do you think will be the most popular IT advancement in the next 10 years in Nepal?</h2><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151128/636a67949c7e80680e0599e5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1050" height="846"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151128/636a67979c7e80680e0599e6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1050" height="846"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h2>The media is the medium</h2>Despite the migration of eyeballs to digital portals for news, Madhu Acharya says it is too early to declare print media dead. “People still prefer to read news holding a physical paper and there is an archival value that digital doesn’t always have,” he says.A Reuters report found that worldwide, across 38 markets, increasing concern about misinformation is undermining trust in media. Yet in Nepal, Sharecast found trust of traditional media is still high with less concern about disinformation online, especially <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/04/india-misinformation-election-fake-news/586123/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in comparison to India</a>. Nepalis believe they know what is and isn’t ‘fake news’, but often without verifying links and checking sources.This could hold implications for Nepali politics in the coming decade, especially in federal elections scheduled for 2022 and 2027.“The ideas that float around on social media and digital platforms are extreme,” Acharya tells us. “If politicians decide to listen to these extreme opinions and stop meeting people face-to-face, learning about them and what problems they have, then I think they will be tempted to address fake needs.”

Nepal in the decade of AI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y85epyHUvjo&amp;feature=youtu.beFor those who think that Nepal is too underdeveloped to make full use of <a href="https://fusemachines.com.np/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">artificial intelligence</a> (AI), think again. That is exactly what they used to say about computers and mobile phones in the 1990s.It may come as a surprise to many that Nepal has been gaining ground in AI, developing not only software using machine learning algorithms but producing world-class engineers. One company at the forefront is <a href="https://fusemachines.com.np/">Fusemachines Nepal</a>, which has started using industry experts to train AI students with cutting-edge technology to deliver intelligent solutions.“I wanted to see if I can contribute in bringing the best AI education to Nepal and make Nepal known around the world as one of the best sources of AI talent,” says the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/review/Sameer-Maskey-revolutionalizing-customer-service-through-Fuse-Machines,1069" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepali founder of Fusemachines, Sameer Maskey</a>, a professor at Columbia University.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108181144/636a95dd9c7e80680e05dc32jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>All Photos: MONIKA DEUPALA/SONIA AWALE</figcaption></figure>This is the age of surveillance capitalism, where algorithms determine election outcomes, Siri knows what you want before you do, wearables correctly deduce the state of the heart and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/so-you-want-to-quit-facebook/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook</a> recognises friends.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/natural-intelligence/">Natural Intelligence</a>, Duksangh Sherpa<a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/outdated-laws-limited-ecommerce-hold-back-tech-industry%20,3547">Kathmandu's Silicon Alley and the Law</a>, Sonia AwaleAI simply imitates human thinking by recognising patterns in data, so that repetitive everyday work can be done by machines that learn as they go along.Nepal missed the bus on natural resource processing, manufacturing and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/outdated-laws-limited-ecommerce-hold-back-tech-industry%20,3547" target="_blank" rel="noopener">information technology</a>. But experts say that training a critical mass of engineers in AI can allow the country’s economy to leapfrog and become globally competitive.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108181144/636a95e09c7e80680e05dc33jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="450"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108181144/636a95e29c7e80680e05dc34jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="450"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img title="page-14-15d" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108181144/636a95e49c7e80680e05dc35jpeg.jpg" alt="page-14-15d"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108181144/636a95e69c7e80680e05dc36jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="450"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Fusemachines Director of Academic Affairs Bülent Uyaniker, who was in Nepal recently, rejects the notion that Nepal is not ready for artificial intelligence applications. “It is happening already, it is inevitable. If there can be 8<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-message-is-the-medium/">.5 million Facebook users</a> in Nepal, then it has the special conditions for AI.”Proof of this is the increasing number of software companies in Nepal using local engineering talent to work on software solutions for customers in North America or Europe. However, most of the engineers and recent graduates need training in AI to keep up with customer requirements. America alone will need 200,000 data scientists in the next five years, and most of these will come from the UK, Finland, Canada, Singapore, China and India.Which is why Fusemachines Nepal is also emphasising education. Says the head of its global operations and strategy, Sumana Shrestha: “You cannot learn AI in a one-day bootcamp, it needs intelligent mathematics, but there is a huge demand versus supply gap for engineers proficient in machine learning or other AI components everywhere.”<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108181144/636a95e89c7e80680e05dc37jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">Read also:<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/it-is-all-about-it-in-nepal,3887" target="_blank" rel="noopener">It's all about IT</a>, Sahina Shrestha<a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/drones-to-the-rescue/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Drones to the rescue</a>, Lucia de VriesNepal established itself as a sought after destination in the past 20 years <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/it-is-all-about-it-in-nepal,3887" target="_blank" rel="noopener">for outsourcing services</a> such as software and app development, website design and big data management to overseas clients, mostly due to the country’s inexpensive English-speaking workforce.This move from IT to AI will not just create jobs in Nepal, but also allow the country to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/drones-to-the-rescue/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increase efficiency and productivity in the workplace</a>. General practitioners in rural hospitals will be able to make diagnoses faster so they can spend more time with patients, high-risk individuals can be identified with <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/think-pink-breast%20cancer-diagnosis-treatment,3877" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cancer screening</a>, and targeted advertising and customised itineraries will lure <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/bringing-in-two-miilion-tourists,3551">potential tourists during Visit Nepal 2020</a>.Recently, a group of engineering students developed a model to help <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/are-you-sick-of-chicken/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poultry</a> entrepreneurs understand fowl behaviour and the state of their animals’ health, helping them to raise the farm’s business profile.“With precision livestock farming we can generate patterns to help farmers recognise symptoms before an outbreak of a disease by implementing AI components such as image processing and deep learning,” explained engineering student Sajil Awale at Pulchok Engineering Campus. “This allows for timely intervention to prevent mass deaths and reduce losses.”Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/tap-and-tour%20,3638" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tap and tour</a>, Clara BullockComputer vision (which enables computers to see and process images as humans would) can also help identify rotten fruit swiftly, and prevent <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/banned-pesticides-are-widely-used-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">misuse of pesticides</a> by identifying areas on the farm that require chemicals, and the amounts needed. AI can also estimate future harvests, allowing farmers time to find markets for produce.Engineers at Fusemachines Nepal are working on Nepal’s first optical character recognition (OCR) system so forms filled out with Nepali handwriting can be digitised and translated into English. This will have huge scope in Nepal’s banking, hospital and government sectors, where pen and paper continues to be the norm.Sixit Bhatta, CEO of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/three-toots-for-tootle/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ride-sharing startup Tootle</a>, says Nepal is ripe for AI applications: “Our efforts now should be on preparing for a world in which machines perform skills-oriented tasks and for humans to take on the roles that require creativity and empathy. But before that, the government should design policies that allow AI to grow, and not restrict it.”Sumana Shrestha at Fusemachines Nepal says that as long as salaries for clerical staff are low, there is less potential for AI to flourish. But she adds: “The curse of cheap labour means companies will prefer to employ people to do repetitive work. But sooner or later, AI will be here. Nepal needs to develop despite government. And the private sector needs to prepare itself for disruption.”Coming to terms with AI Artificial Intelligence: Ability of computer systems or machines to make a decision like humans, or the ability to perform tasks requiring human intelligenceMachine Learning: A subset of artificial intelligence that provides a system with the ability to automatically learn and improve from experience without being explicitly programmed, relying on patterns generated from dataDeep Learning: Machine learning that is applied on a large set of data, also known as deep neural learning that uses deep neural networks to model complicated dataNatural Language Processing: Interaction between computers and human languages, deals with programming computers to process and analyse natural (human) language, this field of AI processes, analyses, interprets and distills information from human languagesComputer Vision: Enables computers to see, identify and process images in the same way that human vision doesImage Processing: Part of computer vision that entails analysis and manipulation to find insights from a digitised imageBig Data: Extremely large data sets on which AI is applied to reveal patterns, trends and associations and make decisions<h2>Making Nepalis artificially intelligent</h2><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108181144/636a95ec9c7e80680e05dc38jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="990"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>During a visit to Nepal six years ago, Columbia University professor Sameer Maskey handpicked three students from engineering schools across Kathmandu who were able to solve a mathematical equation. The three went on to become the core of <a href="https://www.fusemachines.com/">Fusemachines</a>, a global company that aims to democratise artificial intelligence (AI) through education and software solutions.Headquartered in New York, Fusemachines has since opened branches in Canada, UK and the Dominican Republic to develop intelligent software solutions that have transformed brands and businesses around the world. One of its biggest operations is in Nepal, Fusemachines employs 100 top Nepali software engineers who work on projects that use AI applications in fields ranging from telecommunications and banking to hospitals and governance.Unlike other back office companies that work on outsourced software development, Fusemachines is a school in itself, training engineers while coming up with product solutions.“We employ senior engineers and industry experts with PhDs along with upcoming engineers, who work together to solve client-specific problems though AI,” explains <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/share-a-ride-Kathmandu,2738" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sumana Shrestha</a> who heads Fusemachines’ global operations and strategy. “Such collaborative approach allows young talent to continuously learn and grow.”Following Maskey’s vision, Fusemachines tries to make AI accessible to everyone through education, which is why it initially offered training fellowships and then, to meet the demand for engineers, launched AI Shikshya — a year-long, in-house training program.“With our own proprietary platform and content we have partnered with engineering colleges in Kathmandu to offer AI,” says Shrestha. “The program is a blend of online and on-site, the course material is not too academic, is industry focused and instructors are seasoned engineers up to date with new algorithms.”The company also has its own AI schools, open to professionals who want to grow their business or anyone interested. Fusemachines also offers a foundation course, open to high school graduates. A year-long, micro-degree program consisting of four major courses — including machine learning, deep thinking, natural language processing and computer vision — will be the next step.“In school we were always presented with clean data sets to work on but that is rarely the case on the job. But this year-long training program gets people ready to take on real-life problems and provide AI solutions,” says Rojesh Shikharkar, engineer at Fusemachines Nepal and a post-grad at Pulchok Engineering Campus.Apart from training, Fusemachines has given engineers who would otherwise have migrated to work in the US and Europe an opportunity to find meaningful work in Nepal.Says Shrestha: “If you create opportunities here, people might actually stay, and once we have mass education in artificial intelligence, companies here will start adopting and see the value of AI products, ensuring more opportunities at home.”

Sonia Awale

Bringing Silicon Valley to Kathmandu Valley

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/636937a99c7e80680e03fe50jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1014"/>Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Machine Learning are buzzwords we are going to hear a lot more in 2019.The Third Revolution in information technology means the country further ahead in AI will be the new global superpower. Competition is fierce between China and the United States, with both using unconventional means to get back at each other – as seen by the arrest of Huawei’s CFO in Canada under American pressure, the allegations that the security of iPhones are compromised by Chinese-made chips.In his new book AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order, Beijing-based technology executive Kai-Fu Lee analyses the background of information technology advances in both counties, but concludes that China is moving faster on AI and could overtake Silicon Valley because of less strict privacy laws in its huge home market.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/it-is-all-about-it-in-nepal,3887" target="_blank" rel="noopener">It's all about IT, Sahina Shrestha</a>Lee warns that AI could entrench global inequalities as well as disparities within countries, taking jobs away from traditional sectors. While these issues are a source of worry because of what it means for humanity’s future, China does not seem to be held back by any such fears. In fact, it is excited about catching up with the US on applications for AI in everyday life.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/636937ab9c7e80680e03fe51jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="174"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/636937ac9c7e80680e03fe52jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="637"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The book starts with the failure of world’s best Go player, Ke Jie, to Google’s AlphaGo in 2017. China’s IT companies fast-tracked development by imitating Silicon Valley’s most successful products and outdid them in expanding user base and profits: Uber to Didi, Google to Baidu, or eBay to Taobao. Once a product was successful, thousands of mimetic companies were spawned in China, and the Americans suspect these companies had government protection.While some argue that restrictions in China stifle creativity, Lee writes that imitation is the first step in generating new ideas and products. In order to compete with many companies with similar products, Chinese entrepreneurs fight fiercely like hungry wolves.They continuously update products to please Chinese users, change marketing strategies to compete with opponents and build the special business models based on the unique user behaviour of the Chinese.China’s central government helps businesses by investing money and provides policy support for AI research. Local governments are encouraged to build industrial parks for AI business, and the state works closely with technology companies to build new intelligent cities. On the other side of the Pacific, however, the US government is reducing its technology budget letting AI adapt to the current infrastructure.Lee says the AI algorithm is to computing what electricity was in the last technological revolution. China has the advantage of combining its huge data sets with AI applications. In the AI era, the country or company with more data can make more information decisions and thereby more profit.China’s digital infrastructure makes it possible to collect every movement of every citizen down to the last detail, erasing the boundary between online and offline. The advantage the Americans have, Lee writes, is that they can apply AI in businesses and the credit market because of its huge cache of structured trading data.Unlike American IT companies which prefer to establish a completely new product and sell it around the world, the Chinese buy local companies and support them with money, technology and marketing experience. Silicon Valley makes sure every product is perfect before launching, while the Chinese fix bugs on the go.Lee says no matter which model wins out in the next IT revolution, it is time to examine the threats to human society from an omnipotent artificial intelligence as it replaces work that needs physical and mental inputs in medicine, accounting, translations, etc.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Cross-Cutting/Start-ups-need-staying-power,439" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Start-ups need staying power</a>, Ashutosh TiwariBut as people are freed up from repetitive chores, AI will also bring new job opportunities just like farmers became factory workers during the Industrial Revolution. Besides, Lee writes from his own experience with battling cancer, there are things like love and friendship that can never be replaced by a machine. Or, can it?

The AI super powers

This week at the National Population Policy launch Prime Minister K P Oli exhorted Nepalis to get married by age 20 and have three babies by the time they are 30. This was the first indication that the highest office in the land has understood the need to address Nepal’s dramatically <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepals-demographic-window-is-closing">falling birth rate</a>, but Oli’s statement was greeted with ridicule on<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/avoiding-the-quicksand-of-social-media"> social media</a> — especially by women. Most urban young are already grappling with economic pressures and shifting life priorities. Even with a university degree,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/workers-return-to-jobless-nepal?%2F"> many cannot find jobs</a>, and are taking the first flight out for overseas employment. Having a child is now a fraught decision shaped by income, individual autonomy, and family pressure. The <a href="https://www.unfpa.org/swp2025">UNFPA’s State of the World Population report </a>released last month, highlighted a significant <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/migrating-males-and-population-decline">decline in fertility rates </a>around the world. The global average fertility rate is 2.25 children per woman, and 18% of the reproductive adults said they will not be able to have the number of children they desire. The total fertility rate in Nepal has plummeted to 2.1 births per woman — down from 5 just 30 years ago. This is considered replacement level, meaning the newborns will replace their parents.&nbsp; However, birth rates are not declining as rapidly everywhere. The Tarai in has a total fertility rate of 2.20, and northwestern mountains is still 2.24.&nbsp; There are multiple factors in play, and the report broadly divides them into four categories: health issues, economic concerns, fears about the future, and lack of a supportive partner or their absence. More than half of the respondents said finance, which includes unemployment and increased cost of housing, as well as parenthood, was a barrier to having children. “More and more people prefer one or two children at maximum. Many women also decide to have children at a much later age,” says Kamala Devi Lamichhane of Tribhuvan University. “The opportunity cost is far higher for women.” But there is also a cost for the country, as the National Population Policy notes. At the rate the total fertility rate is falling it will soon be below replacement level — meaning that in the next three decades Nepal will be confronted with an <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-future-is-older">ageing population</a>.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250714140740_bac3e5a284b69a77d97b3b99daf2e7fd3019bc48f1a399fb2771381c751d8291.png" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250714140740_bac3e5a284b69a77d97b3b99daf2e7fd3019bc48f1a399fb2771381c751d8291" data-rendition-name="original" width="1302" height="501" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis having fewer babies. Why?"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250714140740_251115b0a88d4e82be70245c43cb74477f3be18042ef1aa3b904c597d815f13b.png" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250714140740_251115b0a88d4e82be70245c43cb74477f3be18042ef1aa3b904c597d815f13b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1125" height="500" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis having fewer babies. Why?"> </figure>  Besides income, there are also cultural factors at play in women having fewer babies — they are expected to do all the childcare duties, even putting their careers on hold. In general, there is little help from spouses, and with more nuclear families there is less support from relatives. “Women today are well educated, career-oriented, and economically independent, allowing them to delay marriage as well as being conscious about their body and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/nepal-far-from-hitting-contraceptive-target?%2F">reproductive rights</a>,” says Laxmi Tamang of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM). Also present at the policy launch was demographer Yagya Bahadur Karki, who said that women are more educated and hence, empowered to take their own informed decisions regarding having children.&nbsp; He adds, “But the fertility rates have reached replacement rate, and that stands as a warning for the future.”&nbsp; Fertility rates have fallen in inverse proportion to the rise in female literacy. The regions of Nepal where couples have more babies is where women are less educated. Couples in Madhes and Sudur Paschim provinces, where child marriage, gender-based discrimination, menstrual huts and dowry are still widespread are where the fertility rate is still high.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250717120740_ababfd31ed5ff79ded427e1f1adfff02e6af2384bd541e51dfe05e52fbbccb39.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250717120740_ababfd31ed5ff79ded427e1f1adfff02e6af2384bd541e51dfe05e52fbbccb39" data-rendition-name="original" width="994" height="682" loading="lazy" alt="TFR Map"> </figure>  And because female literacy also has a direct correlation with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/fatal-discrimination">infant and child mortality</a>, couples in those regions tend to have more babies so some of them survive.&nbsp; But it is Nepal’s urban centres among the educated where the increased choices in reproductive health, including alternative methods of conception like IVF and treatment for infertility, as well as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/implant-service-providers-take-contraception-to-nepals-poor">contraceptives</a> offer more options for family planning. “There are more choices regarding reproductive health, and there is more awareness as well, which is why people decide carefully on whether or not to bear a child,” says population expert Yogendra Gurung. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/migrants-returning-from-the-gulf-with-infertility">Migration is another factor</a> adding to the decline in fertility rates. Many young Nepalis of reproductive age leave every day in pursuit of better jobs overseas. Spousal separation means fewer children.&nbsp; “Once away, even if not educated, they realise that child-rearing costs are high, and try to have fewer and even no children in some cases,” Gurung adds. Recent studies have also shown that men returning after their stint in the Gulf and Malaysia, where they are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/gulf-workers-need-protection-from-heat">exposed to extreme heat </a>for extended periods as well as various chemicals and toxins in their work environment &nbsp;have a range of health problems, including infertility. To increase the birth rate, Nepal will have to reverse its family planning strategy of the past 40 years. Complicating this is that some regions of Nepal will need measures to control the birth rate, while urban areas will need a strategy to help parents have more babies. One way to help families have more children is to develop more <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/future-proofing-nepal-s-population-strategy?s=04&amp;fbclid=IwY2xjawFQf-NleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHRxSwwGPfm7_2cBhDVAowPxEmFXP0Os-KRs1DXqIW_84wDhciExtZuNi1g_aem_jzRqN2cEVAppfwr5qedxRg">family-friendly policies</a> that favour women and youth as the Nordic countries, which also have falling birth rates, have done. They have introduced flexible parental leaves for both parents, including financial and health incentives. China, also concerned about its declining birth rate and an ageing population, now has a three-child policy as well as tax deductions, expanded childcare services, and leave policies to encourage couples to have more children. “We must work towards childbirth and childcare policies and plans that are suitable for Nepal, so that couples planning for children do not have to think twice about it because of finances or other reasons,” adds Gurung. Tamang of the International Confederation of Midwives says a gender transformative approach is needed to address the issues of the gender gap which is adding to the decline in childbirth. Husbands need to play a more important role in child-rearing. Instead of increasing fertility for the sake of it, the objective should be to assist young people to start the families they desire, at a point and time of their choice. Respect for everyone’s rights and dignity lays a foundation for a more balanced demographic trend. Lamichhane sums it up: “If fertility rates are to be sustained, it requires changes in the gender roles and behaviour, keeping the youth’s aspirations in mind.”

Nepalis are having fewer babies. Why?

Does anyone know that 2023-33 was declared the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/visit-nepal-again">Visit Nepal</a> Decade? Or that Pokhara announced that 2025 is a Special Tourism Year? The fuselage of Nepal Airlines jets still carry the Visit Nepal Year 2020 logos. Such ad hoc and unnoticed promotion is emblematic of the way Nepal has tried to increase visitor arrivals <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-hopes-for-tourism-rebound-in-2021-rk4dlo9t">post-Covid</a> — and of the country’s wider political disarray. Deepak Raj Joshi of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has his work cut out to coordinate various agencies of the government to boost arrivals.&nbsp; He says, “We have been working on marketing strategies to revive the tourism sector, and are hopeful that this year will mark a 8-10% increase in arrivals compared to the pre-pandemic times.” On paper, tourist numbers have rebounded to pre-Covid numbers with over 1 million last year, but official figures do not give a true picture of duration of stay, average spending, and the fact every visitor is counted as a ‘tourist’, even repeat visitors who come on business. The few bright spots are largely a result of private sector promotion of niche tourism products, individual social media posts of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/top-10-treks">adventurous treks in Nepal</a>, or the fact that Indians are allowed to enter China again to visit Lake Mansarovar and Mt Kailash via Nepal. Indeed, Simkot airport has up to 15 flights a day from Nepalganj bringing in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds">Indian pilgrims</a> who are then ferried by helicopter to the border in Hilsa, or Lapcha Pass from where the holy sites in Tibet are visible. The rudimentary hotels and rest houses along the route in Humla have been bursting at the seams for the past month, to the point that some establishments are no longer able to provide patrons basic amenities.&nbsp; Last year, 1.14 million tourists visited Nepal, and the government has projected up to 10% increase in tourist arrivals this year. International tourist arrivals to Nepal have been steadily increasing, especially from the US, Europe, and India. Domestic and regional travel has also increased after the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/lockdown-5-utlzqtvs">Covid lockdowns</a>.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250717120756_e1c8f08e7e26496d2b2394e0be776e147fb46c415347b781ed9e5c64d9c9e505.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250717120756_e1c8f08e7e26496d2b2394e0be776e147fb46c415347b781ed9e5c64d9c9e505" data-rendition-name="original" width="1145" height="668" loading="lazy" alt="Tourist numbers"> </figure>  The tourism industry employs at least 1 million people, trekking injects money directly into the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/not-rising-nepal">rural economy </a>and sustains ancillary sectors like handicrafts and domestic aviation. In the last fiscal year, tourism brought in Rs82.33 billion, according to Nepal Rastra Bank. But the industry has been affected by negative publicity about poor infrastructure, air pollution in Kathmandu, travel safety and news of disasters like the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rasuwa-flood-likely-a-glof">China-Nepal flood last week</a> that made international headlines. Growing worries about the climate crisis is also affecting youth travel, especially from Europe. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/missing-out-on-nepal-s-tourism-potential">Missing out on Nepal’s tourism potential</a> “The limitations of airport and road infrastructure has hindered the development of the tourism sector,” admits Joshi. “And many are put off by the appalling state of our road network, especially during <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/managing-the-monsoon">the monsoon season</a>.” Nepal is home to 20 protected areas, 10 heritage sites, and eight out of the world’s 10 highest mountains, and despite all the obstacles it is still the perfect destination for the modern social media savvy traveller, who are experience-driven and inclined to look for itineraries that emphasise wellness and cultural immersion.&nbsp; Some hotels around Kathmandu, Pokhara, Jomsom and the Khumbu have strived to adapt to this new tourism landscape, expanding facilities with significant international investment. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/business/a-thamel-within-thamel">Luxury hotels like Aloft Kathmandu</a> in Thamel were inaugurated just before the pandemic lockdowns, survived the crisis and thrived as it. Says General Manager Vikram Singh (pictured, below): “Our prime location in Thamel enhances the guest experience, especially for those seeking convenience and immersion in the local scene and travellers who want to be in the centre of it all.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071805070_8d29803e8b52bcd4439422e7b7a0bc25aa68ef3d227b9130bd0e079af626677d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="2025071805070_8d29803e8b52bcd4439422e7b7a0bc25aa68ef3d227b9130bd0e079af626677d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1066" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Aloft GM"> </figure>  <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-sustainable-tourism-means-in-practice">Sustainability </a>and environmental consciousness has also become an integral part of the hospitality industry. ISO certifications as well as sustainability initiatives like the Travelife sustainability certification for eco-friendly resorts validate credibility of hotels. Aloft is the first five-star hotel in Nepal to have earned the Waste Smart Certificate, and it has also been awarded the ISO 14001:2015 certification, which is the internationally recognised standard for environmental management systems (EMS). But such investments will not amount to much unless Nepal makes serious efforts to promote itself as a<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-tourism-in-2023-9ukoi8iz?utm="> tourism destination</a>, especially to its two giant neighbours. More importantly, the country needs to increase activities in which tourists can spend the money they want to. “While <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-pushes-mountain-bike-tourism?fbclid=IwAR1MNH0iFGv1vRz5G9uZ4AzUlKxB6nY7JKq0qT6je_FV4_SuxPZqviwKGn0">mountaineering and adventure tourism</a> are extensively promoted, we have fallen short of marketing other elements such as wildlife, pilgrimage and cultural heritage,” says Joshi. “There is a need to diversify promotion to increase income from the tourism sector.” Meanwhile, making Nepal more accessible to international and domestic visitors, must also be a priority. Kathmandu remains the sole aerial gateway despite new airports in Pokhara and Bhairawa. “International airlines have shown interest, and if access and flights are increased these airports can be fully functional,” says Joshi. But Sichuan Airlines has stopped flying to Pokhara, and there does not seem to be much interest from Thai, Vietnamese and Cambodian carriers to fly directly to Lumbini. Says Singh: “There’s tremendous opportunity to strengthen Nepal’s destination marketing by telling richer, more compelling stories that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/culture-cannot-be-an-afterthought">connect travellers with our culture</a>, nature, and people.”

Tourism needs a new push

Local residents of Mustang, including a sitting MP and several politicians, submitted a petition to Prime Minister KP Oli in Kathmandu this week urging the government to lift the region’s ‘restricted’ status. This is not the first time such a demand has been raised, and as infrastructure the region’s accessibility improved over the years, calls to remove the long-standing restriction have grown louder.&nbsp; Upper Mustang is no longer weeks away <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/postcards-from-kathmandu">from Kathmandu.</a> Nearly 85% of the road from Beni to Kagbeni has been blacktopped, and one can drive from Kathmandu to Lo Manthang with an overnight stop in Pokhara. Between April 2024 and April 2025, Lower Mustang received 144,745 international tourists, a near 50% increase compared to the previous year. Most of these were <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds">Indian pilgrims </a>travelling to Muktinath. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a> is also gaining popularity among Nepali visitors, with 700,000 visiting the region in 2024. A hotel operator in Kagbeni estimated that about 20% of Nepali visitors to Muktinath also travel to Korala, the trade and transit checkpoint on the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/north-of-the-border">China border</a>. That would mean that nearly 100,000 domestic tourists visit Upper Mustang annually. In stark contrast, international tourist numbers to Upper Mustang (north of Kagbeni) have remained stagnant, hovering around 4,000 visitors per year. The primary reason is the continued enforcement of the region’s restricted status. Foreign visitors must pay a steep permit fee: a minimum of $500 for 10 days, with an additional $50 per day thereafter. Tourism some entrepreneurs, politicians, and residents want these fees to be abolished so Upper Mustang can attract a broader range of international travellers. The success of Lower Mustang, where relaxed restrictions have led to a<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/boom-time-in-central-tarai"> tourism boom</a>, is often cited as proof of what lifting restrictions could achieve. Upper Mustang is not the only region in Nepal with a restricted status. Several northern areas prefixed with ‘Upper’ (Upper Manaslu, Upper Dolpo, Upper Kanchenjunga, and Upper Arun) also need similar permits and fees. Although no clear official explanation exists, these areas were primarily restricted due to historical inaccessibility, ecological and cultural fragility and security concerns. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/upper-mustang-opposes-prohibited-areas">Call to scrap Upper Mustang tourist fee</a> In the 1960s and 1970s, these remote regions served as shelters for Khampa guerrilla fighters who launched cross border ambushes on the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-last-days-of-the-khampa">Chinese military </a>across the border.&nbsp; Though the Khampa have long gone, security concerns rooted in that era seem to persist. The government in Kathmandu is seemingly unaware of the changed political and security landscape. If concerns do remain, they are not made public. One of the main reasons for maintaining the restricted designation is to limit visitor numbers. But with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-road-out-of-nepal">improved road access and services</a>, as Upper Mustang has seen, this justification no longer holds. When Upper Mustang first opened to international tourists in 1992, it had no formal lodges or hotels, and it took four to five days of trekking from Jomsom to Lo Manthang.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250716120744_4e4405cf10e6f127f90a1cd40feda0b9d8d69efd13093a2563530ca31489ba9f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250716120744_4e4405cf10e6f127f90a1cd40feda0b9d8d69efd13093a2563530ca31489ba9f" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="509" loading="lazy" alt="Lift restrictions on Upper Mustang"> <figcaption>Photo: SHRIJAN PANDEY / NT ARCHIVE</figcaption> </figure>  Without a nechyang (a household with traditional friendship), it was difficult to find a place to stay or get a proper meal. Only a few elite households offered accommodation. Today, there are now more than 80 lodges and hotels above Kagbeni, spread across nearly every village. Several upmarket hotels now struggle to stay afloat during the off-season, relying on low-spending domestic visitors to survive. Lo Manthang, once a remote destination, is now just a few hours’ drive from Jomsom, easily reachable by lunchtime for early starters. Once the remaining road sections are blacktopped, travel time will be further reduced. Yet, the government still charges a flat $500 fee for a 10-day permit based on outdated &nbsp;assumptions from a bygone era. There has been no serious review of the permit structure to align with current realities, nor any response to local aspirations to attract more international tourists and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-tourism-in-2023-9ukoi8iz">harness tourism for economic development</a>. Concerns about over tourism are valid. There is a risk that increasing visitor numbers could erode Upper Mustang’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-million-mantras-in-mustang">cultural heritage</a>, social fabric, and fragile natural environment, precisely the features that make it special. However, the region’s 33 years of tourism experience have been largely positive.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250716120744_5c7e5e05097cd0e5a1027b51c7e3db3be0bd67e0f7cbaea6d2c447b1dacafc8a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20250716120744_5c7e5e05097cd0e5a1027b51c7e3db3be0bd67e0f7cbaea6d2c447b1dacafc8a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="1050" loading="lazy" alt="Lift restrictions on Upper Mustang"> <figcaption>Photo: MUKESH POKHREL / NT ARCHIVE</figcaption> </figure>  Tourism has contributed significantly to the restoration and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-history-of-heritage?%2F">preservation of religious and historical sites</a> like the Thubchen and Jampa monasteries in Lo Manthang, the ongoing conversion of the old palace in Ghami into a premium hotel, and the rehabilitation of many monasteries and chortens.&nbsp; These efforts, supported by international donors and heritage experts, demonstrate that tourism—when well managed—can be a powerful driver of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/shrinking-tourism-s-ecological-footprint">conservation</a>. The high permit fees have been somewhat effective in limiting international visitors, but they have no influence on the growing number of domestic tourists, particularly during the Dasain and Tihar holidays. The most pressing need now is for all levels of government—federal, provincial, and local—to<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/why-invest-in-nepal"> invest in </a>managing tourist flows and maintaining tourist sites. These efforts are essential not only to enhance visitor experience but also to build long-term resilience and sustainability for the destination. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/greening-nepal-s-tourism">Greening Nepal’s tourism</a>, Hanna Wells Visitor numbers are central to any tourism development strategy that aims to balance economic, social, and environmental goals. Clinging to obsolete policies and concerns to justify Upper Mustang’s restricted status is not only unfair, it also suggests an undemocratic and discriminatory attitude toward a remote district.&nbsp; Shailendra Thakali, PhD, is from Jomsom and is a freelance consultant on protected areas, tourism, conservation, and sustainable livelihoods.

Lift restrictions on Upper Mustang

Many of us former Nepal Peace Corps volunteers (PCVs) would agree that our time in Nepal changed in significant but very different ways our perspectives on life if not the future paths we chose to follow. Of no one was this truer than Dorothy Mierow. Dorothy was born in 1920, in Colorado Springs. Her father Charles C Mierow was a classics scholar and Latin professor, who served for ten years as president of Colorado College.&nbsp; Dorothy developed an interest in animals as a child, graduated with a BA degree in natural history from Carlton College in 1942, a Master’s in biology from the University of Pittsburgh, and another Master’s in geography from the University of Minnesota.&nbsp; As a young woman, Dorothy traveled with her father throughout Europe, including a visit to ancient Greek ruins, and took a Magellan Tour by cruise ship around the world in 1958.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_0bad133ab22aada319e74bbad95d563e191371db291c08f373839fbd15440262.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025071901074_0bad133ab22aada319e74bbad95d563e191371db291c08f373839fbd15440262" data-rendition-name="original" width="903" height="1178" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>HOME AWAY FROM HOME: Dorothy Mierow as a college student in her native Colorado.</figcaption> </figure>  She was a college teacher during much of the 1940s, also teaching at a girls’ school in Hawaii. Then back to her native Colorado in 1953, where she became a curator and later director of the Colorado College Natural History Museum. She taught geography classes, and in her free time, Dorothy climbed 22 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks. Traveling in India in 1960, Dorothy decided to spend two weeks in Nepal. In late 1961, she filled out an application to join the Peace Corps and specified that she wanted to go to Nepal, ‘because I admired the people so much when my father and I were there on our trip’.&nbsp; Dorothy reached Kathmandu in September 1962 as the first group of American Peace Corps volunteers in Nepal. She stood out from the others: one of the few women in that group, surely the oldest at age 41, a world traveler, and a woman who already had established a professional career.&nbsp; One doubts if Dorothy had had a husband and children whether she would ever have gone to work and spend much of the rest of her life in Nepal.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901078_68e84ade1ffb0f6c83c7f8fa5c1e7315b5f6c543217f96cde012e4d86f171515.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025071901078_68e84ade1ffb0f6c83c7f8fa5c1e7315b5f6c543217f96cde012e4d86f171515" data-rendition-name="original" width="1259" height="910" loading="lazy" alt="How th Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life NT"> <figcaption>Pokhara Bazar in 1962.</figcaption> </figure>  The Peace Corps assigned Dorothy to teach geography at Tri-Chandra College. After the school closed in the winter due to lack of heating, USAID and the College of Education asked Dorothy to help train general science teachers.&nbsp; She taught for two months and became involved in a textbook-writing project, commenting: ‘I would like the children to know something about public health, conservation (the trees are going fast and so is the soil), and learn the names of some of their common birds, trees, and flowers. They are more impressed with electricity, airplanes, and cell structure.’ When a new college opened in Pokhara in 1963, Dorothy was transferred there and lived with a Nepali family. The college boasted 30 students and no permanent buildings.&nbsp; In October 1963, Dorothy wrote: ‘Pokhara is a town of almost 5,000 people … We are in a fertile valley surrounded by foothills … There is a small Mission Hospital … a Leper Hospital and Tibetan Refugee Camp started by the Red Cross and now run by the Swiss. With winter approaching, more Tibetans are appearing in town, often with pack horses or donkeys. Some have been carrying large boxes of powdered milk,donated (by USAID) to the camp from the airport … There is no electricity, and the transportation problems make many items scarce and expensive. I am really a sort of a museum. The landlord brings all kinds of people in to see how I live and count my shoes and dresses. They express amazement at my books, pictures, tin oven, Nepali dolls from Kathmandu, screened food shelves and curtained closet.’ The standard term for Peace Corps volunteers was two years, but Dorothy extended her term and was still at Prithvi Narayan College at the end of 1965, when she wrote that she had 20 Geography students in the first-year class and 6 in the second year preparing for the IA Examination. The college enrollment was 125 students, and the foundation for a new science building was being excavated.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_c6a80e5e0db0c705b2f8733c6d30dc0386fe3abbd2238ea9d947b7d746f94a29.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025071901074_c6a80e5e0db0c705b2f8733c6d30dc0386fe3abbd2238ea9d947b7d746f94a29" data-rendition-name="original" width="902" height="605" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>Mierow and friends at Phewa Lake.</figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy noted that she ate one meal a day at the (Shining Mission) Hospital but otherwise lived on dal-bhat, momo, and potato curry at local shops. However, she had developed a new passion: to build what she initially called the Pokhara Museum of the Himalaya. In commendable Peace Corps fashion, Dorothy always worked with Nepalis and respected the culture. ‘The greatest joy and satisfaction I have had has been from the building of a Museum-Library in memory of my parents … It has been possible to feel like a wealthy benefactor with the money saved by father for the family’s education and now available for the education of others… (Father) would have loved to be in on the founding of a new college and be able to plan a library. Several hundred of the books to be in the museum-library came from his collection and were carefully selected to be of use for students in Nepal…’&nbsp; ‘The museum part is to satisfy my own inclinations and was thought of when I found how little diversion there was for the people of Pokhara… It is part of the University requirements for the college that it should have a geography and biology museum. The museum building is small but adequate.&nbsp; I have tried to design it in harmony with Nepalese architecture and decorate it with some of the art of the best artists or woodcarvers… Posts holding up the porch roof are carved by Cottage Industries to represent different peoples of Nepal in typical costumes. The door was carved by a local wood carver and has typical birds of Nepal around it. Inside are 10 roof-support carvings designed by the retired Director of the National Museum in Kathmandu, Mr. C.M. Maskey.&nbsp; They were carved by the best wood carvers in Patan very skilfully. The building has three rooms: the library, the exhibition room, and a smaller workroom which can be used by our newly formed Woman’s Club as well as other groups or classes.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_03d3359c65389d30a0134e9a4862778994121e7e833b7d28b18e06e36fc76ff8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2025071901074_03d3359c65389d30a0134e9a4862778994121e7e833b7d28b18e06e36fc76ff8" data-rendition-name="original" width="629" height="599" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>Mierow with local women in Pokhara in 1969.</figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy promoted her project to influential Nepalis connected with organisations whose support she solicited: The Department of Archaeology, the Department of Agriculture, the Godavari Botanical Gardens; Tribhuvan University’s Science and Education Department, Nature Conservation Society.&nbsp; The museum was opened officially in early 1967. The Annapurna Natural History Museum, the building Dorothy designed and had constructed, is still open and features some exhibits which she created many years ago.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_54326a8a0685e980e782378076de2f5cd02d2426e9b0d94eed972d3dbe83af26.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025071901074_54326a8a0685e980e782378076de2f5cd02d2426e9b0d94eed972d3dbe83af26" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>The Annapurna Natural History Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy returned to America in 1967, but she longed for Nepal. In the spring of 1969, she again tried to enroll as a Peace Corps volunteer but was told that as she had spent more than four years, she would not be eligible for another assignment. Undeterred, she persuaded the college in Pokhara to invite her to return as a teacher.&nbsp; UNICEF and the Forestry Department sponsored Dorothy to prepare charts on trees, birds, animals and flowers in colour for distribution to the schools of Nepal. Dorothy, back in the Peace Corps, returned to Pokhara and the Museum in 1972. She formed a friendship with her former geography student from Sikles, Chandra Prasad Gurung, and in 1974, she brought Chandra to America, where he enrolled in Colorado College and studied cultural anthropology.&nbsp; Chandra subsequently earned his PhD in geography from the University of Hawaii and returned to Pokhara to become director of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project. Gurung actively promoted ecotourism, landscape conservation, and biodiversity conservation in Nepal. His life was cut short along with those of 23 other Nepalis and foreigners who perished in a helicopter crash near Taplejung in September 2006.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_322d3c3ac6f1b08ffa07c44a19998b937a7db9eb43527f7539cf6481e1546314.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2025071901074_322d3c3ac6f1b08ffa07c44a19998b937a7db9eb43527f7539cf6481e1546314" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>Mierow's four books on Nepal and its biodiversity. </figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy worked with several well-known Nepalis to publish her paintings and photos in beautifully illustrated books. She and Hemanta Mishra of the National Parks and Wildlife Service wrote Wild Animals of Nepal (Ratna Pustak Bhandar, 1976). More than 400 photos Dorothy took on treks to the Everest region, Gosaikunda, Muktinath, Jumla and Rara Lake, as well as travels in the Tarai, appeared in Himalayan Flowers and Trees (Sahayogi Prakashan, 1978).&nbsp; The botanist Tirtha Bahadur Shrestha identified the species. Dorothy and Kesar Lall published This Beautiful Nepal (Sahayogi Press, 1981). Birds of the Central Himalayas (1988) contained Dorothy’s paintings of 250 species of birds found along the areas of the Kali Gandaki River, Pokhara, Chitwan and the central Tarai. Dorothy summed up her life and work in Nepal in Thirty Years in Pokhara (Pilgrims Book House, 1997). Dorothy returned to Pokhara and her adopted Gurung family several times during the 1980s and 1990s to celebrate festivals and meet old friends. Her final years were spent at her mountain cottage in Green Mountain Falls north of Colorado Springs. She died at the age of 79 in August, 2000. Nepal gave new meaning and purpose to Dorothy Mierow’s life. Daniel W Edwards was a Peace Corps volunteer in 1966 and is the author of several books on Nepal. The author thanks Special Collections, Tutt Library, Colorado College.

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