Lifeboat Foundation

AI is everywhere. Its use is being debated in headlines, on social media and around dinner tables. To some, the rate of AI acceleration is concerning, with many technology leaders calling for a six-month pause in the training of new systems to better understand the impact such tools are having. To others, AI is seen as the cornerstone of the fourth industrial revolution, the latest disruptive technology opening up possibilities for new ways of learning, working and living that we have never experienced before.

Yet, disruptive technologies are nothing new. They have been changing the way we live and work for decades. And these changes have not been without consequences, particularly in the form of economic dislocation and social upheaval. Automation in manufacturing has streamlined mass production and driven down costs; Ecommerce platforms have reshaped the way we shop and do business; even online education has found new ways to provide flexible and affordable ways of learning, delivering opportunities to millions across the globe that simply were not available before.

Presently, much of the discussion around the impact of AI is based on conjecture. However, it is widely agreed that it will have a major impact on jobs and even has the potential to call into question the very fundamentals of what work is. What is not understood is how AI will play out across society in the longer term. Will it, like previous technological revolutions, deliver short-term disruptions followed by long-term benefits, or will it be the catalyst for new ways of learning and upskilling and help reduce the widening digital divide?

Joscha Bach is a cognitive scientist focusing on cognitive architectures, consciousness, models of mental representation, emotion, motivation and sociality.

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Long considered the lifeline of the world’s most populous country, the 170-year-old system has seen rapid expansion and modernisation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push to boost infrastructure and connectivity in the fast-growing economy.

This year, the government made a record 2.4-trillion-rupee ($30 billion) capital outlay for the railways, a 50% increase over the previous fiscal year, to upgrade tracks, ease congestion and add new trains.

A new, semi-high-speed train built in India and called the “Vande Bharat Express”, or “Salute to India Express”, is showcased as evidence of this modernisation, with Modi himself flagging off the first journeys of many of the trains around the country.

Overcoming AI Technophobia

Currently, there is a public surge of interest in AI topics, especially in Large Language Models, like ChatGPT. This is not a random development.

AI is here to stay and will have huge social and economic implications, seen as both a blessing and a curse. In view of its potential dangers, many AI scientists have expressed concern over AI developments that border on technophobia. But there is a means of defending ourselves from the dark side of AI as expressed in dystopian science fiction.

Wikimedia Commons.

These high-performance magnets, used in wind turbines and electric vehicles, are vital for building a zero-carbon economy. Currently, the best permanent magnets available require rare earth elements.

The U.S.-China decoupling is giving rise to a divided tech landscape between the two major economies, shaping the development of the red-hot area of generative AI, which turns text into various forms of content like prose, images, and videos.

China, in order to reduce dependence on the U.S. technological foundation, has been pursuing its own large language models that match OpenAI’s GPT models. But unlike the U.S., some of its most advanced AI endeavors are happening at established internet juggernauts, such as Baidu.

The search engine and autonomous driving giant rolled out its counterpart to ChatGPT in March. Now the 23-year-old firm wants to have a stake in other AI startups, too. The company aims to have a stake in other AI startups. During a JPMorgan summit in China this week, Baidu’s co-founder and CEO Robin Li announced the launch of a billion yuan ($145 million) fund to back generative AI companies.

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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) — Tesla Inc has doubled discounts on some already made new Model 3 electric cars and offered discounts on the Model Y and others in its U.S. inventory to entice buyers amid economic uncertainty, rising competition and the upcoming redesign of its mainstay model.

In California, a Model 3 variant in inventory was priced at $42,060, a discount of $2,680 to the price of newly ordered cars, according to its website. That is double the $1,300 discount on Model 3 cars offered less than two weeks ago.

The moment is badly chosen, but with Elon Musk the unexpected is the rule.

The serial entrepreneur arrived in China on May 30, according to Reuters, whose journalists spotted his private jet at Beijing airport. This surprise visit by the CEO of electric vehicle producer Tesla, founder of SpaceX and owner of Twitter, comes at a time of renewed tensions between China and the U.S., which raise fears of a potential confrontation between the two leading world powers.

Musk and his empire symbolize, according to experts, the intricacy of the two largest world economies, which are interdependent. The U.S. and China are Tesla’s two biggest markets and the regions where the world leader in electric vehicles manufactures the vast majority of its cars.